Do No Harm:Stories of Life, Death and Brain Surgery/ Henry Marsh/ 289 pages

Do No Harm:Stories of Life, Death and Brain Surgery is the memoir of  Henry Marsh a British  neurosurgeon.  Mr. March introduces the reader to various patients via the treatment they require.  Along the way he shares episodes from his own life.  The level of detail is shallow enough for the average reader to understand and follow the surgeon and his cases.  An interesting sideline occurs when Mr. Marsh compares the British socialized medical system with the British private system.  Surgeries can be postponed for the average person due lack of a post-operative bed.  This does not happen in the private system.  In one case, the doctor searches through several wards and still does not find his patient until just before the operation.  Yes, the patients are housed in multi-person wards, even the patient with terminal cancer.  Overall the reader will find the book informative.

Seven Patients/ Atul Kumar/ 258 pages

Seven Patients written by Atul Kumar has the potential to be a very disturbing book.  The story takes place in a teaching hospital and is told by third year medical student Raj Mok.  He does not spare the gory details in sharing his experience with the reader.  The books read as if it were written by someone who lived the experience.  It is not clear from information  about the author if he really is a doctor, or just someone with medical knowledge and a good imagination.  This book is given mixed reviews by other readers.  Most feel it needs better editing.  I felt the sometimes odd turn of a sentence makes the book sound as if the narrator speaks English as a second language.

Weapon of Choice/Patricia Gussin/312 pages

Dr. Laura Nelson has a lot on her plate. She's a widow with 5 children and chief of surgery at a large Tampa hospital. When she's asked to perform a biopsy on a patient, she discovers that he's showing all the signs of the newly-named disease that has been striking fear into the gay community for years. Now known as AIDS instead of GRID, this is the first case seen in Tampa. Laura knows she has to tread lightly while giving Matthew the best care available and protecting her staff at the same time. When an antibiotic resistant staph infection starts killing patients in the ICU, Laura's staff and family are all pulled into a deadly situation. Hopefully, Laura's friend at the CDC can help isolate the infection and provide some help.


This book had me washing my hands more than Lady MacBeth. Set in 1985, it shows how far we've come in the diagnosis and treatment of AIDS. It also brings up some alarming questions on the research and application of biological weapons.