When Illness Goes Public

by Lerner, Barron H.

• ISBN13: 9780801884627
• ISBN10: 0801884624
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2006-10-01
• Publisher: JOHNS HOPKINS UNIV PRESS

Summary

Steve McQueen had cancer and was keeping it secret. Then the media found out, and soon all of America knew. McQueen's high profile changed forever the way the public perceived a dreaded disease. In When Illness Goes Public, Barron H. Lerner describes the evolution of celebrities' illnesses from private matters to stories of great public interest. Famous people who have become symbols of illness include Lou Gehrig, the first "celebrity patient"; Rita Hayworth, whose Alzheimer disease went undiagnosed for years; and Arthur Ashe, who courageously went public with his AIDS diagnosis before the media could reveal his secret. And then there are private citizens like Barney Clark, the first recipient of a permanent artificial heart, and Lorenzo Odone, whose neurological disorder became the subject of a Hollywood film. While celebrity illnesses have helped to inform patients about treatment options, ethical controversies, and scientific proof, the stories surrounding these illnesses have also assumed mythical characteristics that may be misleading. Marrying great storytelling to an exploration of the intersection of science, journalism, fame, and legend, this book is a groundbreaking contribution to our understanding of health and illness.

Author Biography

Barron H. Lerner is a physician and the Angelica Berrie-Gold Foundation Professor of Medicine and Public Health at Columbia University. He is the author of Contagion and Confinement, also published by Johns Hopkins, and The Breast Cancer Wars, winner of the 2006 William H. Welch Medal of the American Association for the History of Medicine and named a notable book by the American Library Association.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments	xi
Introduction	1	(18)
CHAPTER 1. The First Modern Patient: The Public Death of Lou Gehrig	19	(22)
CHAPTER 2. Crazy or Just High-Strung? Jimmy Piersall's Mental Illness	41	(21)
CHAPTER 3. Picturing Illness: Margaret Bourke White Publicizes Parkinson's Disease	62	(19)
CHAPTER 4. Politician as Patient: John Foster Dulles Battles Cancer	81	(19)
CHAPTER 5. No Stone Unturned: The Fight to Save Brian Piccolo's Life	100	(20)
CHAPTER 6. Persistent Patient: Morris Abram as Experimental Subject	120	(19)
CHAPTER 7. Unconventional Healing: Steve McQueen's Mexican Journey	139	(20)
CHAPTER 8. Medicine's Blind Spots: The Delayed Diagnosis of Rita Hayworth	159	(21)
CHAPTER 9. Hero or Victim? Barney Clark and the Technological Imperative	180	(21)
CHAPTER 10. "You Murdered My Daughter": Libby Zion and the Reform of Medical Education	201	(21)
CHAPTER 11. Patient Activism Goes Hollywood: How America Fought AIDS	222	(24)
CHAPTER 12. The Last Angry Man and Woman: Lorenzo Odone's Parents Fight the Medical Establishment	246	(22)
Conclusion	268	(15)
Notes	283	(42)
Index	325