An inside look at one of the nation's most famous public hospitals, Cook
County, as seen through the eyes of its longtime Director of Intensive
Care, Dr. Cory Franklin.
Filled with stories of strange medical cases and unforgettable patients
culled from a thirty-year career in medicine, Cook County ICU offers
readers a peek into the inner workings of a hospital. Author Dr. Cory
Franklin, who headed the hospital's intensive care unit from the 1970s
through the 1990s, shares his most unique and bizarre experiences,
including the deadly Chicago heat wave of 1995, treating some of the
first AIDS patients in the country before the disease was diagnosed, the
nurse with rare Munchausen syndrome, the first surviving ricin victim,
and the famous professor whose Parkinson's disease hid the effects of
the wrong medication. Surprising, darkly humorous, heartwarming, and
sometimes tragic, these stories provide a big-picture look at how the
practice of medicine has changed over the years, making it an enjoyable
read for patients, doctors, and anyone with an interest in medicine.