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MonsieurReynard t1_j1jesr3 wrote

So Boston doctors discovered effective surgical anesthesia, and the rest of the country's medical establishment didn't believe them?

Man, even back then you were lucky AF to live where medical research was cutting edge. Imagine amputation or organ removal while conscious. And be very grateful we live when we do.

Here's some deets: https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/1868/06/the-discovery-of-etherization/628447/

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Reasonable_Move9518 t1_j1jgca1 wrote

Hmm... where else have I heard of a simple, effective medical advance able to save millions of lives and reduce the suffering of tens of millions more being developed largely in the Greater Boston Area?

And then getting rejected by some portions of the rest of the country bc they don't like the "elites" in their "hub of the universe"...

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Left_Squash74 OP t1_j1jh0uo wrote

>don't like the "elites" in their "hub of the universe"...

In this case it was the "elites" rejecting the successful and lucky work of a con-artist fraudster.

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Reasonable_Move9518 t1_j1k5gpe wrote

“Boston-based Entrepreneurs from Non-Traditional Backgrounds Seek to Disrupt Surgery. But are Their Claims Just Made of Vapor?”

-STAT News headline, circa 1846.

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parabostonian t1_j1khktm wrote

It’s not as bad as Semmelweis, who is one of the more fucked up stories in medicine. Guy basically proves via clinical experiments that sanitization of doctors hands reduces patient mortality. Instead of other doctors being convinced by his evidence, they get him fired, ostracized, he’s forced to move, eventually admitted to an asylum, and dies presumably from complications after being by guards. It would take many more decades before the medical community would begin to adopt antiseptic techniques.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ignaz_Semmelweis

Even more than a century later, many doctors would be doing autopsies without gloves on too. I worked with pathologists (in their 60s now) who were doing that in their residencies because it was the norm and got medical issues from doing so.

People (including doctors) are surprisingly stupid sometimes.

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dreameater_baku t1_j1lt4cp wrote

>People (including doctors) are surprisingly stupid sometimes.

I will never forget that retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson believes the Egyptians built the pyramids as glorified grain silos. It's one of those useless pieces of trivia that's now permanently burned into my brain.

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Left_Squash74 OP t1_j1jge5q wrote

A Boston "dentist" looking to get rich first demonstrated its use at MGH, mostly because other doctors were afraid of what would happen to their career if they promoted something exposed as "humbug." He then attempted to patent it by pretending it was a more complicated formula than simply diethyl ether (which failed as people could easily recognize the smell).

I had a minor surgery a few months ago, and was nonetheless very thankful to the flawed men that were Charles Jackson and William Morton, which ever truly realized the potential of ether. I make sure to stop at both of their graves whenever I find myself walking at Mt. Auburn.

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seh0872 t1_j1m8b00 wrote

The operating theater in which ether was first used has been preserved and remains as a museum of sorts with Massachusetts General Hospital.

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