How we cite our quotes: (Page)
Quote #10
Crownsville averaged one doctor for every 225 patients, and its death rate was far higher than its discharge rate. Patients were locked in poorly ventilated cell blocks with drains on the floors instead of toilets. Black men, women, and children suffering with everything from dementia to tuberculosis to "nervousness," "lack of self-confidence," and epilepsy were packed into every conceivable space, including windowless basement rooms and barred-in porches. (275)
Crownsville is a prime example of a shameful institution that miserably failed a vulnerable population. Skloot tells us that the "inmates" of Crownsville were not only ill, but also poor, black, and neglected by their families—the perfect storm for institutionalized racism and abuse. So why didn't these patients just go on Medicaid or Medicare? Oh, wait. Those programs didn't exist until 1965. Poor patients were stuck with places like Crownsville, where little if any treatment took place.
Quote #11
[…] the last thing he remembered before falling unconscious under the anesthesia was a doctor saying his mother's cells were one of the most important things that had ever happened to medicine. Sonny woke up more than $125,000 in debt because he didn't have health insurance to cover the surgery. (306)
The irony of this situation seems to have escaped the surgeons, who are genuinely impressed to have Henrietta's son on the operating table, though they're totally oblivious to his financial situation. Props to the hospital for treating him even though he was uninsured, but seriously—it doesn't seem fair.