Girl Who Died Twice: The Libby Zion Case and the Hidden Hazards of Hospitals

At ll:43 P.M. on Sunday, March 4, l984,  l8-year-old Libby Zion was admitted to New York Hospital  with a fever and minor flu symptoms. Eight hours  later she was dead and her father, New York writer  and luminary Sidney Zion, embarked on a fiery quest  for answers and retribution that has rocked the  foundations of medical education and practice in  America and has precipitated sweeping reforms in the  laws governing hospitals and residency programs.  The Girl Who Died Twice, written  with the participation of both the Zion family and  New York Hospital, is the first in-depth  examination of this landmark case, which recently inspired a  new round of headlines as the bitter legal battle  between the family and the hospital came to a head  in court -- and on Court TV. But last February's  stunning jury verdict also raised troubling issues  of patient responsibility in the case, and it left  unresolved life and death issues about medical  care in this country that have yet to be fully  addressed.Here, from acclaimed  investigative writer Natalie Robins, is the impeccably  researched inside story of this compelling modern  tragedy, based on interviews with many of the  principals, their friends and associates, and hundreds  of medical experts and educators. Robins delivers  the disturbing truth about Libby Zion's life and  death and about how our hospitals really work. At  once gripping personal drama and fascinating  medical mystery, her report is vitally important  reading for anyone interested in a true understanding of  who's in charge of our health.