{"product_id":"9781582435220","title":"Life with Sudden Death: A Tale of Moral Hazard and Medical Misadventure","description":"\u003cp\u003eThe youngest of nine children, Michael Downing was three when his father died — suddenly and inexplicably. No autopsy was performed. The family diagnosis was God’s will.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAs a boy, Downing rigorously trained as a spiritual athlete, preparing to vault into heaven. But eventually he escaped the religious dogma, and the family arena — until one of his brothers died in 2003, suddenly and inexplicably. No autopsy was performed.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAlarmed, Downing pursued a diagnosis: Drawn into a world of researchers, clinicians, and manufacturers with their own arcane ethics and faith, Downing discovered he had inherited a mutant protein from his father, and the first symptom would be his sudden death.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eTo save his life, a defibrillator was hard-wired to his heart. Within weeks, he needed emergency surgery to remove the device and the life-threatening infection he got with it. Two months later, he was re-implanted — only to read in his morning newspaper that the new wires anchored to his heart were prone to failure. His device might be powerless, or it might deliver a series of unwarranted, possibly fatal, shocks. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eFrom a bedeviled boyhood in the Berkshires to a grim comedy of errors in one of Boston’s best hospitals, \u003ci\u003eLife with Sudden Death\u003c\/i\u003e is a wild ride.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Counterpoint Press","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47034805059824,"sku":"9781582435220","price":25.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0737\/7593\/9824\/files\/9781582435220_p0.jpg?v=1763803951","url":"https:\/\/shop-qa.barnesandnoble.com\/products\/9781582435220","provider":"Barnes \u0026 Noble (DEV)","version":"1.0","type":"link"}