The Creative Destruction of Medicine

“The Creative Destruction of Medicine…offers an illuminating perspective on the coming digitization of health care.”

“Readable and comprehensive… Dr. Topol dispenses in short order with our current population‑based medical strategies. They are wasteful and inexact, he points out, often marginally beneficial to the group and downright harmful to the individual. He presents an array of far better ideas, a few now actually being practiced in rudimentary form.”

“In The Creative Destruction of Medicine… Topol blasts current‑day medicine as being archaic and wasteful, making his case with a compelling blend of statistics, anecdotes, and barbs aimed at health care’s Ancien Régime…. Topol does a good job of explaining subtleties to a lay audience – such as why some genetic testing for predicting disease is valid and useful, and why much is not.”

“Eric Topol provides a… look at why medicine is about to be ‘Schumpeterised’ (his word) by digital technology. This book is a godsend for those who suffer from Armageddon fatigue. It also reminds us that technology keeps improving despite economic gloom.”

“A must‑read that lays out a road map for how new technologies in genomics, information technology, and mobile medicine may completely change the way we treat and prevent illness. It’s highly recommended, because Topol has a unique vantage point: he’s one of the few researchers to have played an important role in the old, mass‑market medicine world and the newer, genetically focused one.”

“Topol does an excellent job of explaining all, and his enthusiasm for the possibilities of what the future holds is infectious. It can only be hoped, as the convergence he so convincingly predicts materializes, that the barriers erected by the gatekeepers of yesterday’s paradigms will be easily dismantled so as not to impede the benefits it promises.”

“Topol demonstrates how the digital revolution can be used to change individual care and prevention, and even the economics of American healthcare. From cell phones that automatically collect medical data, to biosensors, advanced imaging, individualized prescriptions and gene‑specific drugs, Topol’s book leads readers through science‑fiction‑sounding scenarios that may soon be a reality.”
 

“The digital age opens up the possibility of a new type of medicine in which an individual’s health data are digitized using wearable sensors, smartphone apps and genome information, writes geneticist and cardiologist Eric Topol. With this wealth of data, medical interventions could be tailored to our uniqueness. Topol covers failures in patient information; what might happen if genomics, imaging, sensors and better health information were to converge; and the potential pitfalls of this brave new medical world.”

“Deriving inspiration from the economist Joseph Schumpeter, Topol proposes nothing less than the ‘creative destruction’ of medicine as it is currently practiced, replacing it with a brave new world in which interconnected technologies dramatically improve patient outcomes… The book is an enjoyable, high‑level review of the current state of the field, intended for a general audience but referenced for those inclined to read more deeply. With its rich discussion of science and technology and companies specific to the last couple of years, this book certainly has contemporary relevance.”

“As an introduction for the lay reader to the sophisticated digital technology now being applied to medical care, and as an explanation of the rapidly advancing science of medical genetics and the new revelations from the sequencing of the human genome, Topol’s book is a tour de force.”

“Topol weaves useful knowledge about how to evaluate the choices open to patients into this exciting account of the revolutionary changes we can expect.”
 

“Dr. Eric Topol is an extraordinary doctor. He’s started a leading medical school, identified the first genes to underlie development of heart disease, led major medical centers, and been a pioneer of wireless medicine. But he is also a remarkable communicator – one of the few top‑flight scientists in medicine to be able to genuinely connect with the public. He was, for example, the first physician researcher to question the safety of Vioxx – and unlike most who raise safety questions, actually succeed in bringing the concerns to public attention. I have known and admired Dr. Topol for a long time. I recommend him highly.”

“If we keep practicing medicine as we know it today, healthcare will become an unbearable burden. We are in a real race between healthcare innovation and the resistance to change of the medical system. In a comprehensive and well researched tour de force, Eric Topol, always a clear and uncompromising thought leader of his generation, challenges us to imagine the revolutionary potential of a world where medical information no longer belongs to a few and can be automatically collected from the many to greatly improve healthcare for all. This is a must read!”

“The Creative Destruction of Medicine is an engaging look into how the discoveries in genetics and biology will change the landscape of medicine. Along the way, Dr. Topol provides a fascinating compendium of stories about the shortcomings of medicine as it is currently practiced and how the revolutionary discoveries coming since the first sequencing of the human genome a decade ago will shape the delivery of healthcare in the 21st century.”

“Our sequencing of the human genome eleven years ago was the beginning of the individualized medicine revolution, a revolution that cannot happen without digitized personal phenotype information. Eric Topol provides a path forward using your digitized genome, remote sensing devices and social networking to place the educated at the center of medicine.”

“Eric Topol provides an excellent and pragmatic view of the U.S. healthcare system from a patient’s perspective. He then offers, through numerous examples, an exciting vision for the future… when technology can be used to dramatically improve the quality of care and reduce cost at the same time. The Creative Destruction of Medicine is a highly informative and enjoyable book, which truly triggers the reader's imagination as to what is possible”

“Eric Topol is that rare physician willing to challenge the orthodoxies of his guild. He recognizes that in the U.S., health care business‑as‑usual is unsustainable. But he does not despair. He bears witness to the rise of Homo digitus and the promise it holds to upend the inefficiencies and dysfunction so entrenched in clinical medicine. The Creative Destruction of Medicine is a timely tour de force. It is a necessary heresy.”

“What happens when the super‑convergence of smart phones further combines with million‑fold lower‑cost genomics and diverse wearable sensors? The riveting answer leads compellingly to a call to activism – not only for medical care providers, but all patients and everyone looking for the next ‘disruptive’ economic revolution. This future is closer than most of us would have imagined before seeing it laid out so clearly. A must‑read.”

“Eric Topol has written an extraordinarily important book at just the right moment. Drawing upon a unique and impressive array of convergent expertise in medical research, clinical medicine, consumer and health technological advancements, and health policy, Dr. Topol opens the door for an essential discussion of old challenges viewed through an innovative lens. In the context of increasingly unaffordable health care costs, suboptimal quality of care delivery, a tsunami of preventable chronic illness, and new accountabilities for consumer’s health choices and behaviors, this book helps all of us to think about solutions in new and exciting ways!”

“Much of the wealth created over the last decades arose out of a brutal transition from ABC’s to digital code. While creating some of the world's most valuable companies, this process also upended whole industries and even countries. Now medicine, health care, and life sciences are undergoing the same transition. And, again, enormous wealth will be created and destroyed. This book is a road map of what is about to happen.”

“In an upbeat, comprehensive volume, Dr. Topol has woven the prevailing technological undercurrents of the post‑PC world – its power of many; its Gucci of gadgets; its cloud ecosystem; its ‘Arab Spring’ of apps; and its ubiquitous, calm computing – with the disruptive innovations of biomedicine, to create a compelling account of how his bio‑digital transformation will hasten personalization of the highest quality of medical care.”

“Dr. Topol is the top thought leader in medicine today, with exceptional vision for how its future can be rebooted. This book will create and catalyze a movement for the individualization and democratization of medicine—and undoubtedly promote better health care.”

“Eric Topol is the perfect author for this book. He has a unique understanding of both genomics and wireless medicine and has a remarkable track record as a charismatic pioneer, visionary, and change agent in medicine. I’m sure this book will reach a very large number of people with information that can both empower and help transform their lives for the better.”

“Dr. Topol believes that medicine, catalyzed by extraordinary innovation that exploits digital information, is about to go through its biggest shakeup in history. His newest book calls for a ‘jailbreak’ from the ideas of the past. In the next phase of medicine, powerful digital tools including mobile sensors and advanced processors will transform our understanding of the individual, enabling creative ‘mash‑ups’ of data that will spark entirely new discoveries and spawn ultra‑personalized health and fitness solutions. And with over 5.7 billion mobile connections worldwide, the mobile technology platform will have a major impact on that vision—leading to what Dr. Topol describes as nothing less than a ‘reboot’ of the health care system. Qualcomm, and its partners all around the world, are working to bring wireless innovations to market that will contribute to the solution. And we share Dr. Topol’s view that individual consumers have the opportunity, and the power, to increase the pace of the titanic change that’s coming.”

“It may sound like hyperbole, but it’s true: Medicine is undergoing its biggest revolution since the invention of the germ theory. As Eric Topol writes, thirty years ago, ‘digital medicine referred to rectal examinations. Dr. Topol is both a leader of and perfect guide to this brave new health world. His book should be prescribed for doctors and patients alike.”

“This is the one book to read for a complete and clear view of our medical future, as enabled by the convergence of digital, mobile, genomic, and life science breakthroughs. Dr. Topol explains how iPhones, cloud computing, gene sequencing, wireless sensors, modernized clinical trials, internet connectivity, advanced diagnostics, targeted therapies and other science will enable the individualization of medicine ‑‑ and force overdue radical change in how medicine is delivered, regulated, and reimbursed. This book should be read by patients, doctors, scientists, entrepreneurs, insurers, regulators, digital engineers ‑‑ anyone who wants better health, lower costs, and participation in this revolution.”

“Eric Topol has been a longtime innovator in healthcare. In The Creative Destruction of Medicine, he cites the big waves of innovation that will save healthcare for the future. Real healthcare reform has not yet begun, but it will. The Creative Destruction of Medicine lays out the path.”

“Health care is poised to be revolutionized by two forces ‑‑ technology and consumerism ‑‑ and Dr. Eric Topol explains why. One‑size‑fits‑all medicine will soon be overtaken by highly personalized, customized solutions that are enabled by breakthroughs in genomics and mobile devices and propelled by empowered consumers looking to live longer, healthier lives. Fasten your seat belts and get ready for the ride ‑‑ and learn what steps you can take to begin to take control of your health.”

“Eric Topol is uniquely positioned to write such a timely and important book. He leads two institutions ‑‑ one in genomics and one in wireless health ‑‑ that will each play a huge role in transforming medicine in the twenty‑first century. From this vantage point, he can see unifying themes that will underlie the coming revolution in population and personal health, and he communicates his vision with vibrant energy. Everyone will want to read this book.”