First, Do No Harm

Features

• Cover Type: Mass Market Paperback with 368 pages
• Published by: Fawcett March 2, 1994
• Written in: English
• ISBN 10 Number: 044922290X
• ISBN 13 Number: 978-0449222904
• Book Dimensions: 6.7 x 4.1 x 1.1 inches
• Weighs: 5.6 ounces

From Publishers Weekly
In novelistic detail, Belkin looks at the cases of several patients in a Houston hospital and the ethical considerations of their doctors.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From School Library Journal
YA-- A look at medical ethics and the critical-care decisions made by the ethics committee, doctors, and four sets of patients/parents at Hermann Hospital in Texas between May-October 1988. Quality of life is measured against longevity and consideration is given to expenditure of limited resources. As most of these patients were children or young adults, the book has immediacy for high school students. The epilogue, written four years later, brings closure to decisions made. Young people interested in medicine or the health-care crisis are sure to find this involving.
- Barbara Hawkins, Oakton High School, Fairfax, VA
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Reader Reviews
I could hardly put this book down until I was finished with it. It was not just eye-opening about how some of the ethical choices in medicine must be made, including the all-too necessary financial considerations. It showed how human doctors are and how difficult it can be for them to have to make heart-wrenching decisions in which there is no right answer, especially when it is clear that, no matter which choice they make, there is not going to be a good outcome for the patient. In spite of their training and attempt to insulate themselves emotionally from their cases in order to remain objective and professional, it's not always possible. Ms. Belkin's descriptions of doctors in tears was very moving, and proved to me that those people chose the right profession, because they really do care about their patients. I found, by searching for them on the AMA web site, that a lot of the doctors in this book are still in practice in Houston (one is in Albuquerque). This search gave absolute credence to the fact that these stories are not fiction but about real people.