David Shactman

David Shactman is an expert in national health policy and medical tourism. After careers in real estate and retail, he studied health policy at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government. Following graduation, he worked on clinical practice guidelines for the U.S. Agency of Health Care Policy and Research. He then joined the research faculty at the Heller School for Social Policy and Management at Brandeis University. While there, he co-edited two collections, “Regulating Managed Care” and “Policies for an Aging Society.” Mr. Shactman has published scholarly articles in peer reviewed journals and has delivered conference speeches, academic lectures and Congressional testimony.

After his work at Brandeis, he co-authored with Stuart Altman, “Power, Politics and Universal Healthcare: The Inside Story of a hundred-year battle.” The book documented the epic struggle to enact universal health insurance for all Americans.
Mr. Shactman has studied the shortage of transplant kidneys and the proliferation of black- market organ dealers. The shortage, and the resulting international trade in illegal organs, is a significant public policy issue with complex ethical considerations. Using the vehicle of a murder mystery and medical thriller, he has attempted to bring these issues to the attention of ordinary citizens.

Mr. Shactman lives with his wife, Ellen, in Massachusetts and Florida with frequent visits to his son, Brian, and two grandchildren in Northbrook, Illinois. When he is not playing golf, he is working on a second Cassandra Crawford and Martin Goldberg mystery.