If I could give this more than five stars I would. It is excellent. Not only is it plainly the result of years of painstaking research, but it communicates that research so clearly and accessibly. The writing is really incredible - this book is one of the best examples of written science communication I've ever come across, and I say that as a science communicator.

It is also terrible. The subject matter is vile. It's taken me weeks to read because I had to put the book down and go away and rage before I could bear to come back to it. There were points where I literally gasped and flinched away from the page. I had a quick flip through it last year when researching a story of my own, and promised myself I'd come back to give it a proper read, and I'm very glad I did. As far as I'm concerned books like Medical Apartheid should be required reading for scientists, and not only those who work in medicine and human health. The ability of scientific professionals and institutions to exploit others, without ethics or remorse, and then to cover up and excuse their own disgusting behaviour, ensuring that there is no professional consequence for deliberate abuse, has been made all too plain here. It's a litany of failure from beginning to end: a failure of ethics, of empathy, of every shred of decent human behaviour, and all of it is supported, in every particular, by racism. That's why I say it should be required reading: scientists have a responsibility to educate themselves about the limits of scientific practice, whether they work in a hospital or an oil company. Such education is work. It is not pleasant. There was not one point where I can honestly say that I enjoyed reading this book. It is too terrible for that. And it is necessary because it is so very terrible.