Mama Might Be Better Off Dead
The Failure of Health Care in Urban America
- Contents
- Review Quotes

Acknowledgments
Introduction
1: "Where crowded humanity suffers and sickens": The Banes family and their
neighborhood
2: The rigors of kidney dialysis for Robert Banes
3: Gaps in government insurance for Mrs. Jackson
4: Fitful primary care fails Mrs. Jackson
5: Mrs. Jackson’s melancholy
6: The inner-city emergency room
7: One hospital’s story: How treating the poor is "bad" for business
8: Who’s responsible for Tommy Markhams’s health?
9: Jackie Banes’s "patient"
10: Empty promises: Preventive care for the Banes children
11: Robert Banes plays the transplant game
12: The Banes family and white doctors
13: Life-sustaining technology
14: Amazing grace
Epilogue
Appendix
Notes
Anthropology: Cultural and Social Anthropology
Economics and Business: Health Economics
Political Science: Public Policy | Race and Politics | Urban Politics
Sociology: Medical | Urban and Rural Sociology
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