Michael Rushnak
 

Michael Rushnak, M.D. M.P.H. lives in New Jersey with his wife. They have three adult children. He graduated Rutgers Medical School in 1974 and is board certified in both internal medicine and gastroenterology. Dr. Rushnak was the senior founding partner of a private practice group until he "retired" in 1992 to focus on public health issues. Initially, the founder of a New Jersey non-profit healthcare "Think Tank," he has earned a Masters in Public Health. Dr Rushnak has attained senior positions in goverment, managed care, and the pharmaceutical industry.

The novel TERMINAL NEGLECT will make you cringe when the "best and the brightest" sabotage the public good in their evil pursuit of power, lust, and greed.  Through the prism of the author's imagination, you will take a fictional ride through the "dark side" where the worlds of medicine, politics, and government colllide in pulsating mortal conflict.  Having served a lifetime in the medical profession, corporate board rooms, and political backrooms, the readers of TERMINAL NEGLECT have claimed to have seen nuggets of reality in this fictional medical novel.  The author's favorite quote is "Some men see things as they are, and ask why?  I dream of things that never were, and ask why not?" -George Benard Shaw as paraphrased by Robert F. Kennedy.

Visit michael online at http://www.michaelrushnakbooks.com

 

 

"Terminal Neglect is a white hot thriller, tightly plotted and full of terrific twists. This is one of the very best medical thrillers I have read--not recently, EVER! Michael Rushnak's first novel hits with the force of a runaway freight train. The tension starts on page one and never lets up. I am so impressed. Michael Rushnak's imaginative, fast-paced thriller gave me paper cuts from turning the pages so rapidly. But then I was too wary to trust any doctor to fix them. This is one terrific read. The genre of medical suspense has been needing some new blood. We have found it in Michael Rushnak. I loved this book, and the friends I have turned on to it are loving it, too." Michael Palmer, NY Times Best Selling Author, The First Patient, The Fifth Vial, The Society, Fatal



"Terminal Neglect is a high octane medical thriller of the first order. A new author Dr Michael Rushnak has exploded on to the literary scene. An instant best seller." Steven Babitsky, Creator of the SEAK MEDICAL FICTION FOR PHYSICIANS ANNUAL WRITING CONFERENCE



"My book was called 'too real for fiction." Terminal Neglect definitely fits into that category. The perpetual twists in this medical fiction will have you checking your meds, but you won't need a second opinion to know that this is a gem of a novel." Judith Sanders, author of Crescent Veil



"Will Rogers once said, 'Never trust anyone who has his hand in your pocket.' With Terminal Neglect, Rushnak taps into the true horror inflicted on an unsuspecting public by a pharmaceutical company whose unbridled quest for profit will find its way around government controls to serve up a cure that can cause harm more than it helps." Richard Meibers, author of Tree Rings
 

PageOneLit.com: Where did you grow up and was reading and writing a part of your life? Who were your earliest influences and why?

Michael Rushnak: Bayonne, New Jersey. Educated in parochial schools by Sisters of Saint Joseph in elementary school and Marist brothers in high school, I was imersed in the fundamentals of reading and writing. My teachers influenced me in not just reading for enjoyment but in comprehending and recalling details on what I read. We were quizzed on details so that I remember focusing on attributes of the characters as well as every twist and turn in the plot. I started writing fictional Walter Mitty short stories where my main character was always involved in fantastic daydreams of personal triumphs

 

PageOneLit.com: Your new novel is Terminal Neglect -- How is this book different from other medical thrillers? What makes this book different?

Michael Rushnak: I believe that my unique experiences in the health care arena set me apart from other medical thriller authors. In my 34 year career since graduating from medical school, the first half has been spent on individual patient care in my private practice of internal medicine and gastroenterolgy. The latter half of my career has encompassed working on public health issues while attaining senior positions in government, managed care, pharmacy benefit management, and within the pharmaceutical industry itself. Writing what I know, through the prism of my diverse experiences, I take readers on a fictional ride through the "dark side" where the worlds of medicine, politics, government, and corporate America collide in pulsating eithical and mortal conflict. TERMINAL NEGLECT shines a bright light on real world political and ethical medical problems that need to be solved by the fictional characters or society will be greatly damaged. There is a theme of critical issues around drug safety in my medical thriller that sets this novel apart from the rest.

PageOneLit.com: Who is Dr. Jonathan Rogers?

Michael Rushnak: Dr Jonathan Rogers is an idealistic and crusading Commissioner of Health from the State of Michigan who has dreamed of becoming the Surgeon General---the "top doc" in America. After being recommended to interview with the President of the United States for this important job of protecting and advancing the health of the Nation, he is forced to support the evil doings of THE HEALTH CLUB or forsake his lifelong dream. Having worked at the New Jersey State Department of Health and reporting up to the Commissioner, my unfulfilled real dream of becoming the NJ State Commissioner of Health lives on viacariously in the character of Dr Jonathan Rogers.

 

PageOneLit.com: Explain who THE HEALTH CLUB are and what is their goal?

Michael Rushnak: THE HEALTH CLUB is a ruthless cult whose reach extends to the highest levels of political power, to a powerful board room in corporate America, and to unscrupulous practicing physicians. The goal of THE HEALTH CLUB is to advance a dangerous blockbuster drug through the FDA approval process and to influence physicians to prescribe the drug. Dr Rogers learns of their intent to promote the deadly drug, Zazotene, and must choose whether to ignore, join, or fight THE HEALTH CLUB.
 

 

PageOneLit.com: In Terminal Neglect, the pharmaceutical industry plays a major part of your plot -- In your opinion does this industry need more control? Do they need to be reeled in some?? Do they have too much power over the FDA?

Michael Rushnak: I believe, to use a well known phrase, that it takes a village of individuals to drive a lethal drug through the FDA oversight process and into the physician prescribing process. The physician is the head villager who can stop any dangerous drug by refusing to prescribe it. In my opinion, the FDA needs to have an independent budget where the pharmaceutical companies do not pay user fees to the FDA in fast tracking clinical trial research. I believe user fees paid by pharmaceutical companies creates a conflict of interest. Also, I do not support direct to consumer advertising of pharamceuticals since most folks are not trained in the principles of risk-benefit analysis that is the purview of a physician. So, I believe the FDA should move away from the pharmaceutical companies by not accepting user fees, the pharmaceutical industry should cease direct to consumer advertising, and the physician should not prescribe newly FDA approved drugs if time tested safer alternatives are available.

PageOneLit.com: Terminal Neglect would make a great film - If Hollywood called who would you cast and why??

Michael Rushnak: Dr Rogers is a Don Quixote type of leader who is willing to march into hell for a heavenly cause. I believe he would best be portrayed by Harrison Ford because he has played characters doing the right thing even at personal danger such as the movie, Air Force One. Zach Miller is a cunning, charasmatic, and driven person who understands the nuances of the world and is purely interested in money and power. Pierce Brosnan would best play Zach since he has played James Bond as 007. Ashley, a studious "chip of the block" daughter would be played by Mandy Moore. Dr Victor Carver, a semi-reitred and vicious doctor could be played by Jack Nicholson.

 

PageOneLit.com: What did you learn from writing Terminal Neglect?

Michael Rushnak: I learned that I could write a fictional story with characters with noble traits and evil traits that could play out a scenario in this novel that many readers say is actually happening in real life. I learned that I could develop my main charactter, Dr Rogers, into a flawed individual with bedrock beliefs in what is right. During the book, Rogers realizes he has more strength that he ever realized and as the odds against him rise, that he becomes even stonger. Or, what doesn't kill you makes you stronger.
 

PageOneLit.com: What do you hope to achieve with Terminal Neglect?

Michael Rushnak: I would hope that readers are engaged in an entertaining story and come away willing to ask more of our physicians, our corporate leaders, and our political leaders to do what is right, no matter what. I hope TERMINAL NEGLECT sparks a national debate about critical life and death questions raised in the novel.



PageOneLit.com: What's next?

Michael Rushnak: The saga of Dr. Rogers will continue in my second medical thriller, RUN FROM EVIL. Readers will have to complete TERMINAL NEGLECT to see if Dr Rogers survives. But, you can be sure that the spirit of Rogers will continue in the upcoming novel.
 

PageOneLit.com: What was the last book you read?

Michael Rushnak: The First Patient by Michael Palmer.
 

PageOneLit.com: Do you have any hobbies? What are they? How do they enhance your writing?

Michael Rushnak: Playing tennis, golf, and exercising in the gym all provide me with a physical outlet for my boundless energy. After a shower, my mind is clear and my body is relaxed so I can write and re-write. And it's interesting that even when I'm not at my laptop, the ideas and characters of my novels are frequently revolving around in my head. Lastly, my writing mentors such as Michael Palmer have ingrained in me the discipline of re-writing until I create magical scenes that readers will enjoy, be inspired by, and have their thought processes stimulated.