Bad Medicine by Charlotte Bismuth


If you or any member of your family has been affected by the opioid epidemic and unscrupulous medical professionals this is a book to read.

This is the story of one of the group of lawyers in the New York District Attorney’s Office that were part of a task force that were able to prosecute a doctor for manslaughter and other crimes. The doctor was one of those who cared more about the money than the patient.

As I read the facts that were presented, I found myself speechless at the amount and variety of pills prescribed to a patient in most cases for $150 cash. The doctor sometimes saw up to a hundred patients in a 12 hour period, which means he spent around 7 or 8 minutes with each patient. Some saw him long enough to get a prescription and pay him the money.

The doctor noted on a patient’s file how much they paid each visit, he falsified records, failed to note suicidal tendencies, overdoses, changes in appearances and in some cases letters from desperate families not to give more drugs to their family members.

The book has heart-rending stories of lives that were lost and destroyed by money grubbing professionals turned blind eyes. It takes you through preparations for trial, the effects on the lawyers and families and the start of a Narcotic Task Force who try to stop unscrupulous doctors and pill pushing clinics who care more for money than people.

I received this book from NetGalley, in exchange for a fair review . I will post the review on their site plus GoodReads, Amazon & Barnes and Noble.

Ooh time goes by and if i don't write the review right away...sigh. I'm trying to be better. The best i can do right now is give a star count...

I had a very hard time getting into this book. While it's a very timely and important story to tell, I just could not enjoy her writing style. I think that this topic was also very narrow/had tunnel vision, as the individual doctors are not the only cause of the opioid epidemic. Yes, they are a big problem, but it does not take into account other facets in even brevity. And the writing style jumped around, making things a little difficult to follow.

Bad Medicine: Catching New York's Deadliest Pill Pusher was not what I expected. It was okay. Three stars.

I’m a true crime buff, and one of my recent favorites was Bad Blood, John Carreyrou's exhaustive tale of Elizabeth Holmes and her scam company Theranos, so I expected to like Bad Medicine by Charlotte Bismuth, which I received from Atria/One Signal Books and NetGalley in exchange for my honest review. Subtitled "Catching New York's Deadliest Pill Pusher," it’s a crime tale set in 2010, and tells the story of Queens, NY doctor Stan Li,. He ran a very creepy corrupt and criminal pain management clinic in Queens, NY. with his big products being Oxycodone and Xanax,. He freely sold prescriptions for cash, and although Dr. Li was repeatedly warned by various physicians that his patients were at risk of death, he just kept on.

The author of Bad Medicine, Charlotte Bismuth, was a young assistant DA and single mother when she took on the prosecution of Dr. Li. With the current opioid epidemic, the abuse of prescription medicine is pervasive. This book shows the extent to which it has been going on for many years. I thought this book was very well done, documenting the incredible efforts put in to bring Dr. Li to justice. Personally, I prefer my true crime to focus on the crime, the people fighting for justice, and the victims, rather than the author’s personal story. But that’s just me. It’s a good book. Four stars.

A pretty good book about trying to convict a doctor in New York of prescribing opioids and getting people dependent and then illegally selling to them. I just wish it wasn’t so darn long and dense. The legal parts were way to detailed and it skipped all over the time line. I was confused so much of the time. It’s a subject I’m interested in but the execution fell short for me.

Before I start my review, I want to say I am sorry to NetGalley and the publisher and author for my delayed review. I downloaded it on my kindle early and then for some odd reason it didn’t show up until I reloaded it. That being said this was a very different read for me. I always enjoy a good edge of your seat true crime but I sadly had a very hard time getting into this book. Now I will say that I felt that the case was presented well and that by the end of the book I hated Dr. Li. Not only did I hate him I was thrilled with the sentence he received for his part in the deaths of the people in the story and also in his part for making things so much worse for the opioid crisis. What I enjoyed about this book is the passion for getting the conviction that every member of that team had. While the legal system isn’t perfect it was refreshing to see a group of people put everything they had into something to get the desired outcome.

On the other side of the coin, however, is what I didn’t enjoy. I had a very hard time keeping up with the chapter transitions and headings. Unlike many of my fellow reviewers, however, I did not mind the bits and pieces that were included about the author's life. It gave me the reader a chance to process some of the harder parts I had read while I received a better understanding of the life that the author was trying to lead while trying to put an evil man behind bars. I was actually surprised by some of this read it was very well explained. My only downfall and why it’s getting a three-star rating from me is because the headings with how many days before and after the trial made things confusing where I found there were parts I had to go back and reread.

A haunting shocking true crime story,Dr.Li while wearing his white coat practicing medicine was handing out drugs to patients selling drugs to victims.A Dr. who was acting through motivations of pure greed.The young prosecutor who fights for these victims fighting to bring this man to justice.She shares with us the lives of the victims their family who she becomes close to.The a
author who becomes a heroine along with her team to the families of these victims,#netgalley#atriabooks

3 1/2 stars. This book shows the absolute unconcern of this doctor (and others I'm sure) in prescribing opioids to patients. It is more terrifying than a horror novel.

Bad Medicine provides a great look into what goes in to making a case against a prescriber who is acting in the best interest of their wallet and not their patients health. The fully story dive into the investigation and actions that lead to the arrest and conviction of Dr. Li in New York is amazing in how it is both laid out and told to the reader. From the whistleblower, to the homicides and even the unique way the timeline is laid out, this book just entrances you.

As a pharmacist myself, I have heard numerous stories similar to this and have even been involved in some trials, having to submit statements, prescription files and more. This is the first time I've been on the outside looking in on a case and am truly amazed at the twists, turns and layers that had me eager to learn what happened next. Understanding how the justice system works from a truly grassroots level is very eye opening and a real treat to have someone involved in the case, as Bismuth was, deliver the story right to the reader, that I truly enjoyed and pulled me right in.

This is a must read book for anyone, but especially those in the healthcare profession, as there is something to be learned in every facet of this story about Dr. Li's trial and the actions of Purdue Pharma.

This was not a firecracker of a book nor a page-turning true detective story. Well, it was a true story. That part was correct. As for the rest, the book doesn't live up to that hype. It does tell an incredibly detailed account of how a doctor was brought to trial for overprescribing opioids and other medications and committing Medicare fraud. I was really surprised how shocked the author was about either of these situations. Both seem to be in the news with much frequency. Perhaps it wasn't as well publicized when she began prosecuting this case? How long have I needed to show ID to buy over the counter Sudafed? The book at its foundation was well written and interesting. But, I struggled with the continually bouncing timelines. That made it difficult to connect the pieces. The other thing that was a draw back for me was the inclusion of Ms. Bismuth's personal life. At first I couldn't decide if it was there to provide a mental break from all the medical and legal talk or if it was just distracting. By the end of the book I determined it was the later. These intrusions kept the book from being the taut drama promised.

Excellent breakdown of a trial against DR. Li. A dr. whom prescribed opioids in very high strength,, large numbers of pills at a time and while doing so , operated a scheme wherein Insurance was billed as well as patients paying cash ( not copays )
Ultimately a number of patients were treated even as they, their families, or other medical doctors informed Dr. Li of overdoses and even suicide attempts....many died of overdoses.
It took more than 4 years of investigation and more than 8 weeks of trial but ultimately Dr. Li was convicted of more than 200 counts against him.
A well written book by one of the lawyers on the prosecution side .

This was an eye opener. It does jump around a bit as you follow the lady prosecutor, Charlotte Bismuth, as she preps for trial. She’s trying to put away this prolific prescription writing doctor, and try to figure out how many of his patients he has killed with his pad and pen already. Doctor Stan Xuhu Li has made a ton of money catering to addicts, and making addicts out of people who weren’t before. It’s all about the opioids, and Dr. Stan Li was right there in the thick of it, doing his share of the dirt, on weekends at least. During the week, he was a mild mannered, board certified anesthesiologist at a teaching hospital in New Jersey. I found this book to be just the kind I like to read, and enjoyed it quite a lot. There were however, a lot of statistics and details when talking about the trial that some may find a bit dry, and there are some places where it drags a bit, but not for long. Overall, a very good read. Advance electronic review copy was provided by NetGalley, author Charlotte Bismuth, and the publisher.

Most people would hope that a doctor would prescribe medication that would give you relief, but that was not the case with Dr. Stan Li in Queens, New York,
Dr. Li worked under the guise of a pain clinic where he saw an average of 70 patients a day. There would be little patient/doctor interaction and often no examination. Dr. Li would be paid in cash, which went straight into his pocket, for writing prescriptions for opioids. He was basically a drug dealer.
Former prosecutor Charlotte Bismuth was given the case to take to trial as many parents of Dr. Li's patients had legitimate concerns. The book takes us through her obtaining the evidence and then bringing the doctor to trial. Although reading pages of trial narrative can become boring at times, the book was interspersed with the author's personal life which made for interesting reading.
I thank the publishers and author for allowing me an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Bad Medicine is an infuriating and intriguing book about Dr. Li’s predatory medical practices. In fact, I was furious with him after just a couple of pages. It’s also about the author, though, and her struggles with depression and sexism. Some of her story was a bit too off topic for my tastes, but most of it was very well stated. For example, when she had to get Botox for the area between her eyebrows and how that changed people’s perceptions of her for the case. And, of course, none of the men involved had to do the same.

Overall, this first book has a couple of pacing issues, but it’s still very much worth reading. Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for providing an ARC. This review contains my honest, unbiased opinion.

It's no secret that the United States has a major Opioid addiction problem. In the new book by Charlotte Bismuth, Bad Medicine, the case of Dr. Stan Li's corrupt pain management clinic in Queens comes tumbling out across the pages. In 2019, a post-it note from a whistleblower sparked an investigation into a pain management clinic where more than 70 patients a day were receiving prescriptions for cash. These were items like oxycodone, methadone, and even Xanax.  The prescriptions were often in large amounts, and sometimes combinations that made no sense for pain management.  Prosecutor Charlotte Bismuth was placed on the case, giving it her all even as she faced her own personal traumas. Dr. Li's patients were dying at an alarming rate, and family members and medical professionals had been begging Dr. Li for their individual patients, discussing recent overdoses, near misses, and even a murder.

Bismuth was there, and that's what makes this book even harder to read. She had her hands on every piece of heartbreaking evidence and had to sit in the court room as family members discussed losing their sons, daughters, and spouses to overdoses of pain medications.  The book is written almost cinematically, moving back and forth between the trial and the action of what happened. Bismuth makes herself a character by describing her struggles with depression following her divorce and the frustrating balance of visitations and being a single mom.  Bad Medicine is a hard book to read, because the tragedies in this book feel so personal.  Parents go into detail about how their children wasted away and died, avoiding food and care for the siren song of opioids. One extremely traumatized woman discusses her overdoses and mental health struggles, even as a defense attorney tries to tear her down on the stand. Bismuth shows empathy and makes sure to create that connection with the reader.  For readers who are interested in the opioid epidemic, the book is full of facts and figures.

Bad Medicine comes to bookstores January 9th from Atria Books.

This book was really intense. I am always interested in true life stories and this one is comprised of so many people's lives. Sadly, these aren't good stories or good memories. This was an intense read about the trial of Doctor Stan Li. Charlotte Bismuth takes you through the trial and most of what is shared will infuriate you. It angers me, especially because my husband is a physician, that anyone took the oath to "do no harm" and then proceeds to willingly and knowingly abuse his power to write prescriptions to people who were most vunerable and took advantage of them. This book isn't for the faint of heart, but if you like books about medicine or true life courtroom dramas, then this is definitely the book for you.