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[stocks]

Set against the backdrop of changing attitudes toward mental illness in the 20th century, El-Hai's scholarly biography of Dr. Walter Freeman is a moving portrait of failed greatness. Born to a distinguished family of physicians, he rose to become one of the most celebrated doctors of his generation. Best known as the doctor responsible for the widespread adoption of lobotomy in America after WWII, he also made signal contributions to the science of medicine through his career-long involvement with George Washington University Medical School and St. Elizabeth's Hospital in Washington, D.C.

The tale of lobotomy’s rise and fall entails far more than one man’s quest to spearhead a dubious surgical method. It is a story of desperation among thousands of patients, families, clinicians and policymakers struggling to manage a population seemingly crippled by illnesses for which there was no help. It is also a worrisome account of physicians groping for solutions to problems that they could not adequately address.


http://www.amazon.co...-...9863&sr=1-1


An excellent installment of the television series "American Experience" concerning neurologist, psychiatrist, and lobotomist William Freeman aired last evening on PBS and can be viewed online here. The program showcases an extremely dark period of American medical history, in which the poorly examined brain procedure was performed in assembly-line fashion on institutionalized psychiatric patients throughout the country, casually and without informed consent by a physician who had no formal neurosurgical training. The portrait of Freeman, dubbed the "Henry Ford of Lobotomy" by his daughter, showcases a tragic confluence of colossal arrogance and, very likely, a true earnest to do good.

http://bmartinmd.com...f-lobotomy.html

Edited by stocks, 16 February 2009 - 07:33 PM.

[stocks]

Cancer screening 'blights ten lives for every one saved'


Thousands of women have had unnecessary surgery, chemotherapy and radiotherapy as a result of routine breast cancer screening, doctors have warned.

For each woman whose life is saved, ten healthy ones needlessly receive mastectomies and other treatment, a study found.

Experts said the NHS should do more to warn women of the high risk of a false positive.


http://www.dailymail...ives-saved.html