Trials Of An Ordinary Doctor

On July 27, 1694, Suzanna Withall and three of her neighbors appeared before the Censors of the London College of Physicians to lodge a complaint against Dr. Joannes Groenevelt. The doctor, according to the women's testimony, had given Withall a "secret remedy" that left her bedridden. When the Censors learned the remedy contained outlawed cantharides - or "Spanish Fly" - they seized what they saw as an opportunity to assert their authority over all London practitioners, including dissenters in their own ranks. The resulting series of legal charges, suits, and countersuits would leave Groenevelt impoverished and the reputation of London physicians subject to public ridicule. Harold J. Cook's microhistory shows how a medical malpractice case against an otherwise obscure Dutch physician in London became the center of one of the era's great medical controversies. Beginning with Groenevelt's boyhood in the provincial city of Deventer, Cook follows Groenevelt through his Dutch medical education, his modest but successful practice in England, his conflict with the medical establishment, and his impoverished old age. He shows how society and politics, as well as the scientific and professional uncertainties and jealousies of the early Enlightenment, helped dictate the course of one man's life - and how the actions he took against those forces helped bring down the authority of the physicians of London.

Consisting of a series of case studies, this book is devoted to the concept and uses of salt in early modern science, which have played a crucial role in the evolution of matter theory from Aristotelian concepts of the elements to Newtonian chymistry.

Sayantani DasGupta entered Johns Hopkins School of Medicine with a vision of saving lives. But first she had to save herself--from politics, red tape, and sexism. In this book, she recalls her trials and tribulations, touching on a wide range of topics, including clinical rotations, romance in the hospital, AIDS, mentoring, and media portrayals of medical professionals.

For the last half century, Mikulás Teich has made many eminent contributions to the histories of science, technology, medicine and society. This book examines European developments since the sixteenth century, the book is divided into sections on Questions of History; Scientific Lives; Disciplines; Natural History, and Science and Disease.

A chilling story of human depravity and ultimate justice, told for the first time by an eyewitness court reporter for the Nuremberg war crimes trial of Nazi doctors. This is the account of 22 men and 1 woman and the torturing and killing by experiment they authorized in the name of scientific research and patriotism. Doctors from Hell includes trial transcripts that have not been easily available to the general public and previously unpublished photographs used as evidence in the trial. The author describes the experience of being in bombed-out, dangerous, post-war Nuremberg, where she lived for two years while working on the trial. Once a Nazi sympathizer tossed bombs into the dining room of the hotel where she lived moments before she arrived for dinner. She takes us into the courtroom to hear the dramatic testimony and see the reactions of the defendants to the proceedings. This landmark trial resulted in the establishment of the Nuremberg code, which set the guidelines for medical research involving human beings. A significant addition to the literature on World War II and the Holocaust, medical ethics, human rights, and the barbaric depths to which human beings can descend.

No Ordinary Doctor; No Ordinary Time describes, almost exploits, a mid to late 20th century medical career that chronicles in story format the dramatic changes in medical science and health care. Dr. Greenberg took advantage of many opportunities newly opened to physicians, both in New York City and around the world. This transition from a system that offered both little more than empathy and the 19th century advancements in surgery to the highly specialized, often impersonal, invasive wizardry of today had a long overture. It began with the post-World War II recognition that the tripartite alliance of government funding, academic research, and corporate development was both a powerful driver of innovation as well as the most potent economic stimulus of the era. As Dr. Greenberg points out, the costs of this new clinical capacity put enormous strains on global economic stability. Today’s clinical successes pose unique fiscal threats that will again lead to a new round of profound transformations. The excitement in medicine continues for the next generation.

Reprint of the original, first published in 1871.