The Impatient Dr. Lange: One Man's Fight to End the Global HIV Epidemic

by Seema Yasmin Narrated by Seema Yasmin

Overview

Dr. Lange graduated from medical school in 1981, right as a new plague swept across the globe. His story became intertwined with the story of HIV. At once a physician, scientist, AIDS activist, and medical diplomat, Lange studied ways to battle HIV and prevent its spread from mother to child. Fighting the injustices of poverty, Lange advocated for better access to health care for the poor and the vulnerable. He championed the drug cocktail that finally helped rein in the disease and was a vocal proponent of prophylactic treatment for those most at risk of contracting HIV.



The Impatient Dr. Lange is the story of one man's struggle against a global pandemic-and the tragic attack that may have slowed down the search for a cure. Seema Yasmin charts the course of the HIV epidemic and Dr. Lange's career as a young doctor who blazed his own path and dedicated his life to HIV. Yasmin draws on written records, medical journals, recorded discussions, expert testimony, and extensive interviews with Lange's family, friends, and colleagues around the globe-including the people he spoke to in the days before he died. She faithfully reconstructs key scenes from Lange's life and the history of the AIDS epidemic, revealing how Lange became a global leader in the fight against AIDS.

Editorial Reviews

Doody's Review Service

Reviewer: Alain Touwaide, PhD (Ronin Institute)
Description: The fight against HIV/AIDS and its history has been overshadowed early by the competition between the French Luc Montagnier and his American colleague Robert Gallo. Further on, the focus shifted to public health, with NGO organizations and others aiming at patients' rights, equal access to medication, and assistance to patients. All this has relegated to the background an isolated figure, Joep Lange, who fought for HIV/AIDS patients, wherever they were in the world. The short book here is a reportage on Lange's activity — medical, political, and humanitarian.
Purpose: Joep Lange's life ended in the most possibly dramatic way: he was among the passengers of the Malaysia Airlines plane shot down in 2014 over Ukraine while going to an HIV/AIDS conference. The book aims to provide justice for Joep Lange, whose destabilizing action in favor of HIV/AIDS patients might generate a misrepresentation of who he was. This is a book mostly written in the first person by an author who has been intrigued by Joep Lange from a young age and whose medical career was inspired by Lange. It is an homage to a hero, a journalistic account, and an enthralling history and story. In spite of her admiration, the author remains objective, proceeding as a journalist, documenting all her statements and reporting facts with almost surgical precision. The resulting account is, nevertheless, as captivating as a novel written with great art.
Audience: This book could (and probably should) be of interest to a broad range of readers. It is clearly a history of medicine in the making. But it goes way beyond its most apparent topic as it illustrates a life of public engagement for science and for the defense of individuals and populations who might not have easy access to medication. Lange's life and philosophy of action (including medical ethics) might be best summarized by Lange's statement about the availability of Coca-Cola in the most arid desert. If a cold Coke can be available anywhere, why not a treatment of HIV/AIDS? Such engagement could be an inspiration to any reader, regardless of background and interests.
Features: The book opens on the tragic end of Lange's life. In eight chapters, it follows Lange's actions in a vivid style, without notes or any similar critical material, but, nevertheless, based on original documents, journal articles, scientific publications, and other relevant data. The description of Lange's engagement does not overshadow the reports of his medical and scientific activity, marked by fundamental discoveries about the behavior of the virus, which led him to believe that it would be possible to wipe out the virus, not only from patients, but also from the surface of the earth.
Assessment: The direct engagement of the author in her topic results in constant first-person affirmations. While this might be the sign of accurate journalism and careful historical work based on personal contact with sources, it will generate sympathy with the author, her passionate medical career and activism. However, it also might provoke reactions of irritation, even antipathy. It is a book that will be liked or disliked. But, whatever the reaction, the book should be on the shelves of any medicohistorical library that aims to reflect all aspects and components of medicine in the making.

From the Publisher

More than just a biography, The Impatient Dr. Lange is a must-read for medical students and history buffs; it is also a sociopolitical overview of Europe and Africa in the 1980s and 1990s. The heartbreaking stories of HIV and AIDS patients across the globe, paired with Lange’s relentless drive, propel the narrative forward. Clear, concise, and thoroughly researched, this book shows how one person with ambition, compassion, hope, and the right resources can accomplish extraordinary things.
—Aimee Jodoin, Foreword Reviews

Engrossing
—Laurie Garrett, The Lancet

Yasmin offers a vivid sense of Lange's complexity, his faults and virtues, and the people and the causes he loved . . . Readers interested in the history of HIV and AIDS or biographies of persons who played a significant role in global health will find this a fascinating read.
—Library Journal

Foreword Reviews - Aimee Jodoin

More than just a biography, The Impatient Dr. Lange is a must-read for medical students and history buffs; it is also a sociopolitical overview of Europe and Africa in the 1980s and 1990s. The heartbreaking stories of HIV and AIDS patients across the globe, paired with Lange’s relentless drive, propel the narrative forward. Clear, concise, and thoroughly researched, this book shows how one person with ambition, compassion, hope, and the right resources can accomplish extraordinary things.

The Lancet - Laurie Garrett

Engrossing

Product Details

BN ID:	2940170271955
Publisher:	HighBridge Company
Publication date:	06/04/2019
Edition description:	Unabridged
Sales rank:	1,018,299

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