Review of Cost of Living by Emily Maloney
Henry Holt, 2022
Emily Maloney experienced the challenges of the health care system both as a patient and employee. Because of a mental health misdiagnosis, she accumulated tens of thousands of dollars of medical debt. By the end of the book, the reader learns that one of the ways she earned money to pay off that debt, as well as her student loans, was working in marketing for a pharmaceutical company. She sees companies’ exorbitant expenses from paying doctors’ travel and expenses, despite laws that should prevent such practices. Maloney works a variety of medical-related jobs throughout her young adulthood, and she sees the toll the system takes on the workers, as well as the patients and families. There are employees and people coming into the ER who are addicted to pain medication due to chronic pain, overprescription, or as a way to cope with the challenges of their lives. She has compassion for all who are suffering, though little for the people who create that suffering. The cost of merely living is high for all in this book, whether struggling with pain, debt, or suffering, but the cost of living might be higher for those who have given away their souls and consciences.
Henry Holt, 2022
Emily Maloney experienced the challenges of the health care system both as a patient and employee. Because of a mental health misdiagnosis, she accumulated tens of thousands of dollars of medical debt. By the end of the book, the reader learns that one of the ways she earned money to pay off that debt, as well as her student loans, was working in marketing for a pharmaceutical company. She sees companies’ exorbitant expenses from paying doctors’ travel and expenses, despite laws that should prevent such practices. Maloney works a variety of medical-related jobs throughout her young adulthood, and she sees the toll the system takes on the workers, as well as the patients and families. There are employees and people coming into the ER who are addicted to pain medication due to chronic pain, overprescription, or as a way to cope with the challenges of their lives. She has compassion for all who are suffering, though little for the people who create that suffering. The cost of merely living is high for all in this book, whether struggling with pain, debt, or suffering, but the cost of living might be higher for those who have given away their souls and consciences.