More relevant than ever as the Coronavirus, COVID-19 pandemic sweeps the globe, False Alarm (Originally released in 2008) reminds readers to look closely at the facts as the media covers the national pandemic news and spread of the virus, as well as reinforces the notion that we must arm ourselves against fear tactics that inhibit our abilities to properly make decisions in a world of uncertainty. Life today for citizens of the developed world is safer, easier, and healthier than for any other people in history thanks to modern medicine, science, technology, and intelligence. So why is an epidemic of fear sweeping America? The answer, according to nationally renowned health commentator Dr. Marc Siegel, is that we live in an artificially created culture of fear. In False Alarm , Siegel identifies three major catalysts of the culture of fear-government, the media, and big pharma. With fascinating, blow-by-blow analyses of the most sensational false alarms of the past few years, he shows how these fearmongers manipulate our most primitive instincts--often without our even realizing it. False Alarm shows us how to look behind the hype and hysteria, inoculate ourselves against fear tactics, and develop the emotional and intellectual skills needed to take back our lives.

Dr. Marc Siegel, a practicing internist and an associate professor at the New York University School of Medicine, cuts through the hype, the facts, the fears, and the realities about bird flu to explain what has the experts so worried and why there¿s still plenty of reason to be calm. Among the questions he answers are: What is bird flu, and who has it? What can I do to protect my family? Should I stockpile Tamiflu? Will this be like the deadly Spanish flu of 1918? Why is there no bird flu vaccine? Will the annual flu shot protect me? In his sensible and entertaining style, Dr. Siegel looks at the advances we¿ve made in treatments, the research still to be done, and the challenges ahead for Asia to lay out a realistic plan for ending this global threat.