Our Malady by Timothy Snyder Summary

Our Malady critiques America’s profit-driven healthcare system through Timothy Snyder’s near-fatal medical crisis and the COVID-19 pandemic. It argues that health is a fundamental human right, linking corporate medicine to political disempowerment. Snyder combines personal hospitalization diaries with historical analysis to expose systemic failures and advocate for universal healthcare as a pillar of true freedom.

This book is essential for readers interested in healthcare policy, political science, and social justice. It appeals to policymakers analyzing systemic inequities, activists advocating for universal healthcare, and general audiences seeking to understand how commercialized medicine undermines democracy.

Yes. Snyder’s blend of personal narrative and incisive political critique offers a timely examination of healthcare’s role in societal freedom. Its lessons on pandemic preparedness, corporate greed, and democratic accountability remain urgent in 2025, making it a vital read for understanding modern public health challenges.

Snyder argues that without guaranteed healthcare, individuals cannot exercise true liberty. He writes, “When we are sick or anxious about illness, rulers exploit our suffering to strip freedoms.” The book ties physical well-being to civic empowerment, asserting that profit-driven systems enslave citizens to medical debt and preventable suffering.

In December 2019, Snyder nearly died from sepsis after multiple U.S. hospitals misdiagnosed a liver abscess. His ordeal exposed systemic flaws: algorithmic care prioritizes profits over patients, and understaffed facilities endanger lives. He contrasts this with Austria’s compassionate, affordable healthcare during his child’s birth.

Snyder condemns “just-in-time” hospital logistics designed to maximize revenue, not save lives. He notes, “A body creates revenue if it’s the right kind of sick,” highlighting how insurers and hospitals profit from prolonged illness. This model, he argues, leaves the U.S. unprepared for crises like COVID-19.

The book contrasts America’s fragmented system with nations like Germany and Japan, where constitutions guarantee healthcare. These countries achieve longer life expectancies and lower costs by prioritizing public health over profits. Snyder attributes U.S. failures to a lack of political will and corporate capture.

• “Facts are what we apprehend…between our emotions and the world.”
• “If pure capitalist logic is applied to health, the bacteria win.”
• “The right to liberty implies a right to healthcare.”

These lines underscore Snyder’s case for evidence-based policy and healthcare as a civic right.

Some argue Snyder’s focus on high-income comparisons oversimplifies global healthcare challenges. Others note his solutions lack granular policy steps. However, reviewers praise its moral urgency and historical grounding, calling it “necessary reading” for reformers.

Snyder blames the U.S. pandemic response on profit-oriented hospitals, misinformation, and eroded public trust. He cites testing shortages and PPE hoarding as symptoms of a system that values “magical thinking” over science, leading to unnecessary deaths.

The book advocates three reforms:

1. enshrine healthcare as a human right
2. empower doctors over administrators
3. invest in long-term public health infrastructure

Snyder stresses that these changes require dismantling corporate influence in politics.

With ongoing debates about AI in healthcare and Medicaid cuts, Snyder’s warnings about profit-driven systems remain critical. The book’s emphasis on health as freedom resonates amid new pandemics and climate-related health crises.