You Bet Your Life

By Paul A Offit,

Book cover of You Bet Your Life: From Blood Transfusions to Mass Vaccination, the Long and Risky History of Medical Innovation

Book description

From one of America’s top physicians, a “riveting,” “fascinating,” and “timely” (Nature) history of risk in medicine 
 
Every medical decision—whether to have chemotherapy, an X-ray, or surgery—is a risk, no matter which way you choose. In You Bet Your Life, physician Paul A. Offit argues that, from the first blood…

When you buy books, we may earn a commission that helps keep our lights on (or join the rebellion as a member).

Why read it?

1 author picked You Bet Your Life as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

I remember watching my first transplant in medical school and wondering, who was brave enough to be the first for something like this? Hearing the stories of the medical firsts and the people behind them is remarkable.

What I found even more captivating were the costs incurred by the patients involved. In that way, this book widened my perspective on the patient experience as we continue to push the boundaries of medicine.

Want books like You Bet Your Life?

Our community of 12,000+ authors has personally recommended 22 books like You Bet Your Life.

Browse books like You Bet Your Life

Book cover of Medical Apartheid: The Dark History of Medical Experimentation on Black Americans from Colonial Times to the Present
Book cover of The Butchering Art: Joseph Lister's Quest to Transform the Grisly World of Victorian Medicine
Book cover of Wonder Drug: The Hidden Victims of America's Secret Thalidomide Scandal

Share your top 3 reads of 2024!

And get a beautiful page showing off your 3 favorite reads.

1,190

readers submitted
so far, will you?

5 book lists we think you will like!

Interested in chemotherapy, circulatory system, and cancer?

Chemotherapy 11 books
Cancer 125 books