"Describes why the cost of healthcare is skyrocketing and what patients need to know to protect themselves from needless procedures. Offers examples and suggestions for a better healthcare system with dramatic cost reductions"--Provided by publisher.

"Tuscany, 1945. As the war in Europe ends, American Red Cross nurse Diana Bolsena finds herself separated from her unit. Unable to reconnect with the American army, she's left to survive with nothing but her spirit, her talents as a nurse, and her nightmares of the horror of war. Determined to return to active duty in the Pacific, to earn her way back Diana begins caring for a child with disabilities on the estate of the enigmatic Signora Bugari....

"There is an unspoken dark side of American medicine: keeping patients alive at all costs. Two thirds of Americans die in healthcare institutions tethered to machines and tubes, even though research indicates that most prefer to die at home in comfort, surrounded by loved ones. The question 'How do you want to live?' must be posed to the seriously ill because they deserve to choose. If doctors explain options--including the choice to forego countless...