A bristling, courageous account of the moral struggles faced by critics in academic medicine ... A few of these accounts feel a bit hackneyed, as do his occasional detours into the realm of politics ... This deeply heartfelt book is the realization of that possibility, one that offers hope that — thanks to such acts of courage — lasting change is indeed within our reach.
[Elliott] seems inattentive to what should be important details of the case that was such a focus of his life: He gets the year of Markingson’s death wrong the first time he mentions it, and, in one of the book’s most startling passages, he displays a total lack of curiosity about the fact that Markingson’s mother donated her body to the University of Minnesota after her death ... Clear throughout The Occasional Human Sacrifice is that his anger has roots that extend back to his own time in medical school. His seeming inability to acknowledge this keeps him from reaching the conclusion and call to action that his book cries out for ... Elliott is a nimble and probing thinker who doesn’t shy away from weighty subjects. But considering all that it covers, his book feels incomplete.
Detailing the extreme pressures to stay loyal that whistleblowers face, Elliott paints a damning portrait of the medical community’s workplace culture. Readers will be outraged and enthralled.
