ABSTRACT
When one examines the far-reaching social ramifications of diseases instead of being concerned only with providing therapy for them, it becomes inevitable to view disease not only as a condition which causes pain and suffering and thus requires immediate help but also as an event which creates "issues" and "problems" and thus requires analysis. This chapter begins with a sketch of the major concerns faced by the participants in the catastrophic disease process and the means that the participants have devised to cope with them. It provides a brief description of the treatment of two catastrophic illnesses, end-stage renal and cardiac failure. Prime among these is the need to explain the gap between the number of people who suffer from these conditions and the number who are being treated. The explanation for the gap in turn raises two sets of problems: experimentation and therapy.
