This paper explains the case of Lia, a Hmong girl stricken with epilepsy, which causes a cultural clash between her
physicians
and her parents. The author point out that her
physicians defined Lia's illness in physical and chemical terms, but Lia's parents, like many Hmong people, regarded epilepsy with
ambivalence because, to them, epileptic seizures are often seen as trances, giving the affected person special powers. The paper relates that Lia's parents violated several precepts of Western medicine by refusing medical treatment and purposely giving their daughter improper dosages of medicine; however, Lia's well-meaning physicians also unknowingly violated several important tenets of Hmong culture, such as their discussions of Lia's possible death.