Our Malady is a book by Timothy Snyder, who wrote the text after surviving overwhelming sepsis and a baseball-size abscess in his liver. The book starts with Snyder, claiming that had he died, his “death would have been all too typical” (Snyder, 13). Snyder criticizes America’s health care system for its handling of healthcare matters. The way that the American government has handled coronavirus is unacceptable. The government could have encouraged its medics to start testing people for the novel coronavirus in early January. As a result, more infections and deaths could have been prevented.
Snyder was sick and admitted to a Germany hospital. He was discharged a few hours later. In barely two weeks after discharge, he was admitted to a hospital in Connecticut for an appendectomy. As well he was released a few hours later. Subsequently, Snyder was admitted to a hospital in Florida, where he was not satisfied with treatment. Next, he was taken to a hospital in New Haven, where he was admitted to the emergency room. Here, he was diagnosed with sepsis. Eventually, he was discharged from the hospital. Snyder argues that people also suffer after recovery. According to him, “scars and symptoms remain as a legacy of malady” (Snyder, 145).
Snyder outcries a flawed healthcare system in America, particularly in the time of a pandemic. People have a right to healthcare. The author believes people are not free when they are sick. The right to healthcare is a fundamental right. Therefore, people should strive to heal their maladies to enrich life, extend liberty, and pursue happiness.
