Question

The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down

Lia's doctors, most notably Neil Ernst and Peggy Philp, were heroic in their efforts to help Lia, and that her parents cared for her deeply. Yet, this arguably preventable tragedy still occurred.

Can you think of anything that might have prevented it?

Answer 1

Cultural Values, Spirituality, and Medicine.
She could speak only with her eyes. Lia, the subject of Anne Fadiman's 1997 book “The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down,” died Aug. 31 in Sacramento at the age of 30, after living decades longer than doctors said was possible.
Quag dab peg. That means the spirit catches you and you fall down.
The Spirit Catches You And You Fall Down examines the ways in which people cling to various strongly-held tenets set forth by their cultures.