In Anne Fadiman’s book "The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down," it is apparent that medicine is highly prominent throughout, and could be considered the main idea. Much of the book is revolved around American doctors and their role in the lives of the Hmong/Lee family. Looking at cross-cultural medicine, the goal of this essay is to showcase Hmong and American medicines, where cultural misunderstandings lie, as well as, deciding which practice is most beneficial for Lia. First, I must inform you of what role American medicine plays in The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down. In this book, we specifically look at two doctors who are dedicated to help Lia in her struggle with epilepsy: Neil and Peggy Ernst. The American doctors claimed that they tried every possible way to make it easier for Lia’s parents to care for Lia. Neil and Peggy provided the Lee family with Hmong translators, guides that they could understand for measuring medication doses, and nurses to help give Lia her medication. Due to the Lee’s constant and consistent failure to comply, with or without the help given, it resulted in Lia being taken away from her family due to “child abuse.” Specifically, Fadiman states, “Neil sent me a copy of this note to the Health Department and to Child Protective Services. In it, he also wrote that because of poor parental compliance regarding the medication this case obviously would come under the realm of child abuse, specifically child neglect Unless there could be some form of compliance with the medication regimen and control of the child’s seizure disorder, this child is at risk for status epilepticus which could result in irreversible brain damage and also possibly death.” Most people of American society would agree that taking Lia away was the right decision in order to prevent her seizures from coming back, and others might believe that Lia’s parents were only making it worse for her by not abiding to the doctor’s orders. Lia’s conditions were so serious that she needed her medicine in order to survive; therefore, being taken away from her parents was the right thing to do. However, later on in the book, we realized that Lia’s conditions were only getting worse when she was taken away. This may have been due to the fact she was in complete shock from being away from her family. The unfamiliar surroundings caused her to become physically and mentally stressed, resulting in her conditions worsening. Whenever Lia was in critical care, Dr. Neil and Peggy Ernst were there as well, which makes the readers believe they were very dedicated to her, day in and day out. It was not until the book presented more about the Hmong culture, that readers stopped and thought about the cultural differences between American and Hmong medicine practices. Although the American doctors tho