Physician and author Dr. Nortin Hadler will speak at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro Wednesday, Nov. 11, about the treatment of lower-back pain as an example of problems with U.S. health care.

The event, at 7:30 p.m. in Room 130 of Moore Nursing Building, is free and open to the public.

Hadler is a professor of medicine at UNC-Chapel Hill and an attending rheumatologist at UNC Hospitals. He has written several books about the U.S. health-care system, including, most recently, "Stabbed in the Back: Confronting Back Pain in an Overtreated Society."

Released Oct. 15, "Stabbed in the Back" focuses on lower-back pain suffered by otherwise healthy people. Using the latest clinical research and his own clinical experience, he concludes that many of the treatments advocated by physicians, surgeons and practitioners of alternative therapies are of little benefit to patients.

The Publisher's Weekly review of "Stabbed in the Back" describes the book as "a bitter pill -- but one that should trigger a much needed debate among health-care reformers."

In his 2008 book, "Worried Sick: A Prescription for Health in an Overtreated America," Hadler argues Americans are not getting their money's worth in health care. He argues that unnecessary treatments are executed extremely well and dismayingly often, due to aggressive medical marketing to physicians and consumers.

The lecture is sponsored by UNCG's Master of Arts in Liberal Studies program and the UNCG Health Careers Advisory Committee.