People who are very ill can be reduced to their diagnoses by others
Martin Parr/Magnum Photos
Being sick
Neil Vickers and Derek Bolton (Reaktion Books)
In 1979, when endocrinologist David Rabin was diagnosed with an incurable neurodegenerative disease, he understood all too well the pain that followed. What he didn’t anticipate was the response from his medical colleagues at Tennessee’s Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, who were so uncomfortable with his diagnosis that they started avoiding him. On one occasion, Rabin collapsed and a passing colleague pretended not to see him, throwing him on the ground as they walked…
