They weep still for their blue-eyed Nataline. Their tears flow for what they remember: Their daughter in her room, the pink walls decorated with posters of the Jonas Brothers. They see her there sketching in a notebook the dresses and blouses and jackets she would one day like to design. Nataline Sarkisyan died in a UCLA hospital bed on Dec. 20, 2007. She was 17. Her story drew nationwide attention because the liver transplant she needed was denied by her family's health insurer, CIGNA.

National Nurses United(NNU) took up the cause of Robin Hood at Chicago’s downtown J.P. Morgan Chase building on June 19. With its merry band of tax reforming nurses, the NNU held a lunch hour rally to press for a financial transactions tax (FTT) or as it is more commonly called, a “Robin Hood Tax”. Chicago was among 15 cities where similar rallies were held. Easily recognized by their red scrubs along with their Robin Hood hats and masks, NNU members described the Robin Hood tax in signs that read,”It’s Not a Tax On the People. It’s a Tax For the People.”

Tall, in her 50s and sporting a perfectly coiffed salt-and-pepper pixie cut, the woman was one of the most respected nurses in the hospital. She had nearly three decades of clinical experience, so older nurses and doctors valued her insight, younger ones sought her approval, and those of us in between tried to stand a little straighter in her presence. One morning, however, she arrived at work to find that the hospital was full and her unit understaffed. It wasn’t the first time she had to cover for more patients because of staffing issues, but by the end of this 12-hour shift, she noticed a slight twinge in her lower back — a minor muscle sprain, she thought, from helping one of the other nurses lift a patient. A week later, the slight twinge turned into debilitating back pain.