Health care in America: lost opportunities amid plenty

Despite frequent breakthroughs in medicine, and in the face of an expenditure on health that is almost twice that of any other country in the world, there are significant problems with health care in the United States. Fundamental failings reflect the underuse, overuse, and misuse of resources, which result in inadequate care for important medical conditions. An apparent blind faith in the benefits of science and technology may help account for these startling inadequacies, as lavish funding of the biomedical research effort diverts attention from the fundamental matter of delivering care for common diseases. With a shift in research priorities, the United States could shape a health care system that is far more responsive to the needs of its people.