One by One by One: Making a Small Difference Amid a Billion Problems

Berkowitz shares his experience as a young neurologist providing care to Haitians who lack access to basic health care in this touching debut. Berkowitz began working in Haiti a few months out of residency at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston. He also trained Haitian neurologists and, through an eager doctor practicing in Port-au-Prince, he met Janel, a 23-year-old with a massive brain tumor. Janel could only be treated in the United States—if at all—which inspired Berkowitz and a dedicated team at Brigham and Women’s Hospital to make a “big save.” Berkowitz’s efforts to provide Janel with treatment, despite criticisms about its cost-effectiveness, shape the book’s trajectory. Unfolding in a journalistic style, Berkowitz’s tale balances the twists and turns of Janel’s case with the author’s own reflections on the ethics of health care inequity. Berkowitz asks difficult, sometimes heartbreaking questions about how to treat poor people when they have no access to care. While Berkowitz provides few answers, his harrowing stories provide plenty to ponder. (June)