Saving Babies?

The Consequences of Newborn Genetic Screening

Stefan Timmermans (Brandeis University), Mara Buchbinder

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English

University of Chicago Press
04 December 2012

Medical ethics & professional conduct; Medical screening; Health systems & services; Neonatal medicine

Series: Fieldwork Encounters and Discoveries

It has been close to six decades since Watson and Crick

discovered the structure of DNA and more than ten years since the human

genome was decoded. Today, through the collection and analysis of a

small blood sample, every baby born in the United States is screened for

more than fifty genetic disorders. Though the early detection of these

abnormalities can potentially save lives, the test also has a high

percentage of false positives—inaccurate results that can take a brutal

emotional toll on parents before they are corrected. Now some doctors

are questioning whether the benefits of these screenings outweigh the

stress and pain they sometimes produce. In Saving Babies?, Stefan Timmermans

and Mara Buchbinder evaluate the consequences and benefits of

state-mandated newborn screening—and the larger policy questions they

raise about the inherent inequalities in American medical care that

limit the effectiveness of this potentially lifesaving technology. Drawing

on observations and interviews with families, doctors, and policy

actors, Timmermans and Buchbinder have given us the first ethnographic

study of how parents and geneticists resolve the many uncertainties in

screening newborns. Ideal for scholars of medicine, public health, and

public policy, this book is destined to become a classic in its field.

By: Stefan Timmermans (Brandeis University), Mara Buchbinder
Imprint: University of Chicago Press
Country of Publication: United States
Dimensions: Height: 23mm, Width: 16mm, Spine: 2mm
Weight: 567g
ISBN: 9780226924977
ISBN 10: 0226924971
Series: Fieldwork Encounters and Discoveries
Pages: 320
Publication Date: 04 December 2012
Audience: College/higher education , Professional and scholarly , Further / Higher Education , Undergraduate
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Active

Stefan Timmermans is professor and chair of sociology at the University of California, Los Angeles and the author of Postmortem: How Medical Examiners Explain Suspicious Deaths, among other books. Mara Buchbinder is assistant professor of social medicine and adjunct assistant professor of anthropology at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Reviews for Saving Babies?: The Consequences of Newborn Genetic Screening

Smart, humane, and beautifully written, Saving Babies? is respectful but critical of clinicians, parents, and policymakers as it vividly connects the reader to the human tragedies on the page. Without being maudlin, Stefan Timmermans and Mara Buchbinder show us how newborn screening really works. Despite the grim subjects, this profound book is a real treat to read. (Carol A. Heimer, Northwestern University)