Health Dec 05 A symphony of second opinions on Mozart’s final illness On Dec. 5, 225 years ago, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart drew his last breath, at age 35. Ever since, generations of doctors have been obsessed with figuring out what caused his premature death.
Health Nov 04 Unlocking the medical mysteries of King Tut’s tomb On this day in 1922, the tomb of Tutankhamun, or King Tut as he is better known, was discovered by British archaeologist Howard Carter. The news grabbed the world by the scruff of its collective neck. Most compelling was…
Health Oct 10 Column: The failed Broadway musical I wish every medical student could see On Oct. 10, 1947, this “medical musical” opened on the Great White Way. Alas, the production costs were so high and, once the bad reviews came in, the ticket sales so low that the play closed after 314 unprofitable performances.
Health Sep 16 The dirty, painful death of President James A. Garfield Editor’s note: This post contains graphic content and may be disturbing to some readers. On Sep. 19, 1881, James Abram Garfield, the 20th president of the United States, died. His final weeks were an agonizing march towards oblivion that began…
Health Aug 05 Column: Marilyn Monroe and the prescription drugs that killed her Long before the opiate and opioid epidemics struck American life with such resounding force, there were plenty of other prescription drugs abused to excess with deadly results. Hollywood icon Marilyn Monroe consumed, if not abused, a great deal of them.
Health Jul 07 Louis Pasteur’s risky move to save a boy from almost certain death Louis Pasteur was hard at work developing a rabies vaccine, using dogs as his experimental subjects. Up until now, however, he had not administered the vaccine to a human being.
Health Jun 17 Did Lou Gehrig actually die of ‘Lou Gehrig’s disease’? Lou began experiencing his first neurological symptoms in 1938, right around the time of his 35th birthday. But was ALS the cause of Lou Gehrig’s death? Maybe not, say a group of neurologists, physicians and pathologists.
Health May 21 How Dr. Arthur Conan Doyle cracked the case of the tuberculosis ‘remedy’ Today marks the birth of the man who created the world’s greatest detective, Sherlock Holmes. To celebrate, here's one of the great detective stories in medical history.
Health Apr 08 Remembering Ryan White, the teen who fought against the stigma of AIDS Today we celebrate one of the great heroes in the war against AIDS: a brave young man named Ryan White. He was only 18 when he died of the disease on April 8, 1990.
Health Mar 09 Celebrating Rebecca Lee Crumpler, first African-American woman physician Today we celebrate the life of Rebecca Lee Crumpler, the first African-American woman physician in the United States. On this anniversary of her death, let us applaud her courage, perseverance and pioneering achievements. Her passion “to mitigate the afflictions of…