George Washington was Killed by his Doctors
I just listened to his death in the biography Washington: a Life. The date was 1799, and he was 67 at time – older that usual, but still a strong man. At the time doctors were killing more patients than they cured – and this record was not improved on until much later. They still believed in bleeding – and believed in it completely. They bleed George five times, until half the blood in his body was gone.
Three doctors were in attendance. The youngest wanted to perform a tracheotomy, a new operation at the time, which would have allowed him to breath, and saved his life. The older doctors overruled him – decision they later regretted, but by that time George was long gone.
This story has a moral – people want to believe in authority, whether it is valid or not.
And those now in authority are not.
No trackbacks yet.