Waking Up Blind

Imagine trusting a doctor—with the best reputation in the state—to do surgery on your eyes. Now imagine the worst of outcomes. Blindness in an eye that you learn, in fact, never needed surgery. And the medical center where you were treated is ignoring the problem.Waking Up Blind is the story of how an eye surgeon became the cause of an array of medical problems for his patients. It is also the story of how one of the nation's premier medical centers tried to conceal the growing scandal. The faculty who exposed the problems were punished. Official committees and the university leaders minimized the misconduct. Slowly, lawsuits and publicity brought some to light in bits and pieces. With the use of court documents, transcripts of tape-recorded conversations, interviews, and personal observation, Dr. Tom Harbin presents this case from the very beginning, uncovering all levels of wrongdoing and secrecy. Waking Up Blind will shock the reader with its candid exploration of the dark side of medicine.

Imagine trusting a doctor--with the best reputation in the state--to do surgery on your eyes. Now imagine the worst of outcomes.

Imagine trusting a doctor - with the best reputation for treating eye disease in the state - to do surgery on your eyes. Now imagine the worst outcomes. Blindness in an eye that you learn, in fact, never needed surgery. And the medical center where you were treated is ignoring the problem. This is the story of how an eye surgeon - respected, admired, and lauded with the highest praise - became the cause of an array of medial problems for his patients. It is also the story of how one of the nation's premier medical centers tried to conceal the growing scandal. The faculty who exposed the problems were punished. Official committees and the university leaders minimized the misconduct. Slowly, lawsuits and publicity brought some to light in bits and pieces. Now the whole story is being told. With the use of court documents, transcripts of tape-recorded conversations, interviews, and personal observation, Dr. Tom Harbin presents this case from the very beginning, uncovering all levels of wrongdoing and secrecy. Walking Up Blind will shock the reader with its candid exploration of the dark side of medicine

WINNER OF 1994 THE BOOKER PRIZE. Sammy's had a bad week. Most of it's just a blank space in his mind, and the bits that he can remember, he'd rather not. His wallet's gone, along with his new shoes, he's been arrested then beaten up by the police and thrown out on the street - and he's just gone blind. He remembers a row with his girlfriend, but she seems to have disappeared; and he might have been trying to fix a bit of business up with an old mate, he's not too sure. Things aren't looking too good for Sammy and his problems have hardly begun. 'A passionate, scintillating, brilliant song of a book' Guardian

A city is hit by an epidemic of "white blindness" whose victims are confined to a vacant mental hospital, while a single eyewitness to the nightmare guides seven oddly assorted strangers through the barren urban landscape

The extraordinary chronicle of two doctors “bringing light to those in darkness” (Time)—the “miracle workers” whose story is featured on 60 Minutes The publisher will donate a portion of its proceeds on the sale of this book to the Himalayan Cataract Project. Second Suns is the unforgettable true story of two very different doctors with a common mission: to rid the world of preventable blindness. Dr. Geoffrey Tabin was the high-achieving “bad boy” of his class at Harvard Medical School. Dr. Sanduk Ruit grew up in a remote village in the Himalayas, where cataract blindness—easily curable in modern hospitals—amounts to an epidemic. Together, they pioneered a new surgical method, by which they have helped restore sight to over 4 million people—all for about $20 per operation. #1 New York Times–bestselling author David Oliver Relin brings the doctors’ work to vivid life through poignant portraits of their patients, from old men who can once again walk treacherous mountain trails, to children who can finally see their mothers’ faces. The Himalayan Cataract Project is changing the world—one pair of eyes at a time.

Margaret Heffernan argues that the biggest threats and dangers we face are the ones we don't see--not because they're secret or invisible, but because we're willfully blind. A distinguished businesswoman and writer, she examines the phenomenon and traces its imprint in our private and working lives, and within governments and organizations, and asks: What makes us prefer ignorance? What are we so afraid of? Why do some people see more than others? And how can we change? Covering everything from our choice of mates to the SEC, Bernard Madoff's investors, the embers of BP's refinery, the military in Afghanistan, and the dog-eat-dog world of subprime mortgage lenders, this provocative book demonstrates how failing to see--or admit to ourselves or our colleagues--the issues and problems in plain sight can ruin private lives and bring down corporations. Heffernan explains how willful blindness develops before exploring ways that institutions and individuals can combat it. In the tradition of Malcolm Gladwell and Nassim Nicholas Taleb, Margaret Heffernan's Willful Blindness is a tour de force on human behavior that will open your eyes.

The influential masterpiece of one of the twentieth century’s most brilliant—and neglected—science fiction and horror writers, whom Stephen King called “the best writer of science fiction that England has ever produced.” “[Wyndham] avoids easy allegories and instead questions the relative values of the civilisation that has been lost, the literally blind terror of humanity in the face of dominant nature. . . . Frightening and powerful, Wyndham’s vision remains an important allegory and a gripping story.”—The Guardian What if a meteor shower left most of the world blind—and humanity at the mercy of mysterious carnivorous plants? Bill Masen undergoes eye surgery and awakes the next morning in his hospital bed to find civilization collapsing. Wandering the city, he quickly realizes that surviving in this strange new world requires evading strangers and the seven-foot-tall plants known as triffids—plants that can walk and can kill a man with one quick lash of their poisonous stingers.