Anne Fadiman’s book is a medical non-fiction story which dramatizes the clash between a Hmong family against their American doctors in saving their 3 month old Hmong refugee girl, Lia Lee, who suffers from frequent bouts of epilepsy.
The Hmong, an ethnic group from Laos, were used as a proxy fighting force by America during the Secret War in Laos, and fought against the communist-nationalist Pathet Lao. When the communist emerged triumphant, the Hmong fled to countries like Thailand and the USA.
Fadiman coins the term “differently ethical” to explain the Hmong’s system of beliefs and how this system are worlds apart from the American system. This stark cultural difference becomes the source of miscommunication between Lia’s parents and her doctors, and ultimately contributes to Lia’s tragic suffering and future semi-vegetative state. For the Hmong, their distinct set of beliefs posed a major obstacle to the American medical professionals whom, at this time during the 70s, had little or no experience treating patients like the Hmong who were so deeply entrenched in superstition and rooted in customs considered primitive by Americans.
Through Lia’s case, Fadiman raises the need for better cross-cultural communication in the American medical community when treating immigrant patients. What was needed in Lia’s case and most other cases involving Hmong, in general, was cross-cultural exchange that went beyond simply displaying deep sincerity and sensitivity under the one’s cultural framework of understanding. The solution offered by Fadiman is to adopt another culture’s way of thinking and act according to that framework to engage a new demographic.
