It’s always wonderful to live in New York, but there are times when it’s especially great to be here. When you see Joan Didion and Joan Jett on the same day. When you absolutely must have a plate of Kumamoto oysters with Sevruga caviar—and buy a three-inch hex-shank drill bit—at 3 A.M. Or when, say, you’re pregnant with triplets and you discover your aorta is about to explode. Yes, New York has more than its share of singular charms, but access to the world’s finest medical care (a nice plate of Kumamotos aside) may just be foremost among them. In this, our ninth annual “Best Doctors” issue, we offer proof in the form of ten remarkable case studies. The aforementioned pregnant woman? Doctors performed an emergency C-section and heart surgery, saving her life and those of her three children. Would she and the other patients featured here have done as well if they’d been treated in a less medically excellent city? Happily, they didn’t have to test the notion. If all you need is a smart, thoughtful general practitioner or an ace sports-medicine doc, you’ll find those here, too. This year’s lineup of New York’s finest includes 1,358 physicians in dozens of specialties from all five boroughs and several surrounding counties. Chances are good that you’ll find plenty of quality doctors near you. Who knows—you might eat a bad oyster.

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10 Medical Marvels
Reattached hands, a dual heart-lung transplant, and eight other tales of extraordinary healing.

(1.) Conductor, 89, With Heart Problems, Too Old and Sick for Surgery
(2.) Firefighter Separates Spine From Skull
(3.) Taxi Driver Survives Testicular Cancer
(4.) Baby With Severe Back and Rib Problems
(5.) College Student Going Blind in Both Eyes
(6.) Factory Worker Loses Hands
(7.) Hockey-Mad 5-Year-Old Has Potentially Fatal Tumor
(8.) Woman Carrying Triplets Has Torn Aorta
(9.) Woman Needs Heart and Lung Transplant
(10.) Hip-Replacement Complications May Cost a Woman Her Leg

Related:

• Archive: “Features”
• Table of Contents: June 19, 2006 issue of New York | Subscribe!