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When one undergoes a medical procedure, there is always the chance that something will go wrong. But what happens to Larry Conkel goes way beyond human error. During the course of a biopsy, a plastic catheter is inserted into his heart. When it disintegrates into a million pieces, he is rushed into surgery. Thereıs no way to remove all the flotsam floating around in his body and he dies. The question is whether it was the catheter itself that caused the problem or whether somebody murdered Larry who, by the way, is also the CFO of the hospital. The possibility that the equipment was inferior is pretty well disproved by an independent lab who certified that the catheter had been exposed to extremely high temperatures which degraded its performance. Karen Hayes is the in-house attorney for Shoreview Memorial Hospital, and what happened to Conkel has a huge impact on the future of the hospital. For one thing, its malpractice insurance has mysteriously lapsed which means that they could be liable for a huge settlement, effectively bankrupting the institution. As she looks into the situation, she finds that Larry was collecting information on fraudulent billing wherein various physicians and clinics would either bill for procedures that werenıt performed or perform unnecessary procedures, resulting in tens of millions of dollars of inappropriate charges as well as needless suffering on the part of the patients. If this information were to be revealed, there would be quite a scandal in the medical community. There are many characters who have a great deal of motivation for killing Larry. The perpetrator has also threatened Karen both through physical harm and the potential loss of her job. Unfortunately, the actual villain had the least convincing motive of all the suspects; and the personıs revelation was a real disappointment which untangled the nicely complex web that Biehl had been weaving. The author did not play fair with the reader and give them enough information to reach the correct conclusion. In spite of the poor choice of a villain and a somewhat clumsy ending, Biehl has done many things right. I really enjoyed how the lead character also had a personal life. Her husband, Jake, is a struggling musician who plays the blues harp (jazz harmonica); and he is a wonderfully drawn character who has overtones of ³Hippie²-ness that are amusing. The author chose a topic which is certain to infuriate every reader of the book and involve them emotionally. We are all aware of the nefarious practices of some of the medical community, and Biehl elaborates on the economics of hospitals expertly. The author is a managing partner of a health law practice, and that background clearly contributes toward the creation of a believable and involving story.
Reviewed by Maddy Van Hertbruggen, December 2002
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Contact: Yvonne Klein (ymk@reviewingtheevidence.com)
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