Description: This is the story of a modern epidemic of a disease that many believe was long ago eliminated. Yet as a highly infectious disease, TB is still the leading killer in the world. In the 1980s and early 1990s, New York City experienced an unprecedented outbreak of tuberculosis. Its extreme contagiousness and the emergence of drug-resistant strains led city health officials to respond with severe policies of compliance and quarantine -- sometimes up to two years -- that violated individual civil liberties. So this is also the story of a public health triumph that has come at a great cost. The book raises ethical issues that are of increasing importance in the world of modern medicine. Richard Coker warns the international community against assuming a fortress mentality of detention and compliance toward patients with TB and advocates a more just balance between health and liberty in this gripping narrative of medicine and morality.

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