The most important and difficult moment of this book:"That's tyranny," said Sukey. "What if you have a family who rejects surgery because they believe an illness has a spiritual cause? What if they see a definite possibility of eternal damnation for their child if she dies from surgery? Next to that, death might not seem so important. Which is more important, the life or the soul?""I make no apology," said Bill [the biomedically trained doctor]. "The life comes first.""The soul," said Sukey.I love how the author takes no sides. What happens to little Lia, and her Hmong family and her American doctors desperately trying to help her, is tragic. But both biomedicine and traditional medicine have their faults. To achieve optimal health outcomes, it's up to both groups to resolve these problems and reconcile.
