"Falling-Out" in Miami and the History of Culture in American Medicine

Turning to the case of "falling-out" in Miami, this paper locates a historical context for the incorporation of culture into medical practice. In the 1970s, after playing a leading role in the organization of medical anthropology, Hazel Weidman uncovered a condition that Miami residents called "falling-out." It was characterized by sudden collapse in situations of stress, followed by a state of semiconsciousness-and it seemed to affect only individuals of African American or Afro-Caribbean descent. Observing patients' routine mismanagement by the medical system, Weidman used the condition to advocate for greater cultural awareness among health professionals. This study finds that while anthropologists worked to change the medical community, they were also embedded in a Cold War racial politics, where health became a useful site for managing ethnic difference. Moreover, the contested nature of "falling-out" in the 1970s echoes the contested nature of "culture" in medicine that institutions continue to confront today.