About
Dr. Howard Markel writes a monthly column for the PBS NewsHour, highlighting the anniversary of a momentous event that continues to shape modern medicine. He is the director of the Center for the History of Medicine and the George E. Wantz Distinguished Professor of the History of Medicine at the University of Michigan.
He is the author or editor of 10 books, including “Quarantine! East European Jewish Immigrants and the New York City Epidemics of 1892,” “When Germs Travel: Six Major Epidemics That Have Invaded America Since 1900 and the Fears They Have Unleashed” and “An Anatomy of Addiction: Sigmund Freud, William Halsted, and the Miracle Drug Cocaine.”
Recent Stories
Health Jan 19
Edgar Allan Poe’s greatest mystery was his deathA man was discovered lying in the gutter, confused, bedraggled, and under the influence. Shabbily dressed (in someone else’s clothing, as it turned out), Edgar Allan Poe was in dire need of medical assistance.
Health Dec 17
How a strange rumor of Walt Disney’s death became legendWhen you hear "Disney on Ice," you may think of the wildly popular ice shows featuring Mickey and Minnie Mouse and others skating in hockey arenas across the nation. But there's also the disturbing urban legend that Walt Disney’s corpse…
Health Nov 11
The medical story behind Thomas Eakins’ gory masterpieceIt is difficult for the 21st century observer to imagine the shock and revulsion Thomas Eakins provoked with both "The Gross Clinic" in 1876.
Health Oct 22
The medical mystery that helped make Thomas Edison an inventorDeafness allowed Edison to shut himself off from “all the meaningless sound that normal people hear.” But what caused his deafness is still debated by doctors and hearing experts to this day.
Health Sep 26
George Gershwin’s too-short life ended on a blue noteThe cause of his untimely death was most likely glioblastoma, the same type of brain cancer that killed Senators Edward M. Kennedy in 2009 and John McCain this September.
Health Aug 16
Elvis’ addiction was the perfect prescription for an early deathLike so many rock stars, Elvis employed an all-too-willing physician to feed his addiction and hasten his death.
Health Jul 23
How a hotel convention became ground zero for this deadly bacteriaFrom July 21 to July 24, 1976, more than 2,000 members of the Pennsylvania chapters of the American Legion attended their annual state convention at a Philadelphia hotel. By Aug. 15, 182 Legionnaires who attended the convention were ill with…
Health Jun 29
The brilliant brothers behind the Mayo ClinicAlthough Will Mayo rose to become an assistant in surgery and a demonstrator in anatomy at Michigan, one of his professors told him he would never succeed in medicine.
Nation May 05
How Nellie Bly went undercover to expose abuse of the mentally illNellie Bly's investigative work became a classic in the annals of psychiatry and a cogent warning against inhumane treatment of the mentally ill.
Health Apr 12
Franklin D. Roosevelt’s painfully eloquent final wordsFDR’s health finally gave out after years of carrying the weight of the United States, and ultimately the free world, on his muscular shoulders.
