Expendable Americans: The incredible story of how tens of thousands of American men and women die each year of preventable industrial disease

by Paul Brodeur

Focusing on the dismal experiences of workers in the asbestos and chemical industries, Mr. Brodeur painstakingly documents how entrenched industry doctors and consultants, allied with key public health officials at various levels of the state and federal governments appeared to be involved in nothing less than a blatant and pervasive effort to suppress and ignore medical information concerning hazardous substances and to prevent effective enforcement of the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970.

274 pages, Hardcover

First published October 3, 1974

Reviews

[Anna Engel · Rating 3 out of 5]

Written only a few short years after the creation of OSHA and NIOSH, "Expendable Americans" is an attempt to expose the supposedly nefarious dealings between government, industry, and academia. He goes into minute, excruciating detail about who talked to whom, which people belonged to which organizations, and how money corrupts all. The second half of the book is painful to read, as it's just "conversations" with various experts, with each person speaking a full paragraph, then another paragraph, ad nauseum. It's informative in places, and interesting within a wider historical context, but overall it was hard to get through.

[T · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read in 1974. Correct title is "Expendable Americans."