Rx for those bankrupted by medical crisis

[cnn-photo-caption image=http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2009/HEALTH/03/27/india.medical.travel/art.into.or.cnn.jpg caption="Medical costs contributed to more than 62 percent all personal bankruptcy filings in the US in 2007."]

Elizabeth Edwards and Sheldon Whitehouse
Special to CNN

When 3-year-old Finnegan Burns fell ill with complications from cystic fibrosis, his parents did what any loving parents would do. Kerry and Patrick Burns put their lives on hold to see their son through his medical travails.

Surgery after surgery, hospital after hospital, they remained by their child's side as he fought to recover.

This past March, at age 4½, Finnegan lost his battle with this terrible disease.

Following the indescribable anguish that comes with the death of a child, Kerry and Patrick might have hoped to resume their jobs and begin the process of moving forward with their lives.

What should have been a private and quiet period has instead been marked by a mountain of medical debt, home foreclosure and bankruptcy.

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