In February 2003, an undocumented immigrant teen from Mexico lay dying
in a prominent American hospital due to a stunning medical
oversight--she had received a heart-lung transplantation of the wrong
blood type. In the following weeks, Jesica Santillan's tragedy became a
portal into the complexities of American medicine, prompting contentious
debate about new patterns and old problems in immigration, the hidden
epidemic of medical error, the lines separating transplant "haves" from
"have-nots," the right to sue, and the challenges posed by "foreigners"
crossing borders for medical care.
This volume draws together experts in history, sociology, medical
ethics, communication and immigration studies, transplant surgery,
anthropology, and health law to understand the dramatic events, the
major players, and the core issues at stake. Contributors view the
Santillan story as a morality tale: about the conflicting values
underpinning American health care; about the politics of transplant
medicine; about how a nation debates deservedness, justice, and second
chances; and about the global dilemmas of medical tourism and
citizenship.
Contributors:
Charles Bosk, University of Pennsylvania
Leo R. Chavez, University of California, Irvine
Richard Cook, University of Chicago
Thomas Diflo, New York University Medical Center
Jason Eberl, Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis
Jed Adam Gross, Yale University
Jacklyn Habib, American Association of Retired Persons
Tyler R. Harrison, Purdue University
Beatrix Hoffman, Northern Illinois University
Nancy M. P. King, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Barron Lerner, Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health
Susan E. Lederer, Yale University
Julie Livingston, Rutgers University
Eric M. Meslin, Indiana University School of Medicine and Indiana
University-Purdue University Indianapolis
Susan E. Morgan, Purdue University
Nancy Scheper-Hughes, University of California, Berkeley
Rosamond Rhodes, Mount Sinai School of Medicine and The Graduate Center,
City University of New York
Carolyn Rouse, Princeton University
Karen Salmon, New England School of Law
Lesley Sharp, Barnard and Columbia University Mailman School of Public
Health
Lisa Volk Chewning, Rutgers University
Keith Wailoo, Rutgers University
