571 Book Reviews

Total Page:16

File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb

571 Book Reviews Book Reviews situated within the Russian language materials Sigerist was a prolific letter-writer and – both contemporary and modern – and recipient of mail from all over the world. The contributes to a growing literature on the ways present volume reveals but one part of that in which Soviet policies compare to those of postbag. His correspondence contains not only Europe and to pre-revolutionary Russia (many quotidian concerns, but also shows the deep of these works also authored by graduates of structures being put in place as a discipline Columbia’s prolific and influential was shaped. The letters to the pathologist programme). Specialists in the history of William Welch, the neurosurgeon Harvey suicide, psychology, sociology, or forensic Cushing, and the military officer and librarian medicine will find much of comparative Fielding H. Garrison are, for the most part, interest in the history of these fields in the centred on organisational matters – Sigerist exotic, contested, and politically charged taking up the Hopkins chair, conference terrain of revolutionary and Stalinist Russia. arranging – and rarely revealing much of contemporary events, although in 1932 Tricia Starks, Cushing presciently observed, the ‘whole Orient seems to have gone mad, and the University of Arkansas Hawaiian Islands are near enough to feel the general uneasiness’ (p. 53). There is barely anything by way of tittle-tattle, indeed the Marcel H. Bickel (ed.), Henry E. Sigerist: formality of tone is striking – no first names, Correspondences with Welch, Cushing, ‘Dear Sigerist’, Cushing writes after Sigerist Garrison, and Ackerknecht (Bern: had stayed at the surgeon’s home ‘I sincerely Peter Lang, 2010) pp. 488, £57.40, hope that both Mrs Cushing and I paperback, ISBN: 978-3-0343-0320-0. will have an opportunity to meet [Mrs Sigerist]’ (p. 53). In 1932, Henry Sigerist (1891–1957) took up On the other hand, the letters to and from the position of chair and head of the brand Erwin Ackerknecht are eventually (especially new Institute for the History of Medicine at on the latter’s side) personal and richly Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore. The revelatory of the medical historical culture of University’s medical school glittered with past the 1940s and 50s. Ackerknecht was born in and present clinicians – William Osler, Harvey Szczecin – then in Germany, now in Poland – Cushing – and Sigerist and his circle were to in 1906, and was a student of Sigerist’s in bring to Maryland equal lustre to their chosen Leipzig where he wrote a thesis (1932). A subject. To this day in the United States medical doctor he studied anthropology in Sigerist’s name illuminates the study of the France and left for the United States in 1941. history of medicine and, to a lesser degree, this Forthright in opinion, a polymath, polyglot is true of Britain, other English-speaking and voracious reader, Ackerknecht finally countries, then Germany, and finally anywhere gained a position at Wisconsin, but in the where the discipline has practitioners. This 1950s took up a permanent post in Zurich. His may seem an unnecessary prologue to a anthropological training left an intriguing hint review in a specialist journal but, conceivably, of the cultural relativism of the 1920s in his new readers and students on the margins may medical historical writing. Many of his letters not have encountered his presence. The to Sigerist are laments about his cultural concerns of Sigerist and his cohort still isolation and his love of Europe. reverberate: ambivalence towards doctors; The self-exiled and then communist within which faculty should history of Ackerknecht’s first few letters (in German) are medicine be sited in a university?; is the from Paris before the war. By 1939, he was subject humanities or social science?; what is increasingly desperate to escape France. After its relationship to the history of science? internment and various adventures, he reached 571 Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. IP address: 170.106.202.226, on 26 Sep 2021 at 17:05:05, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0025727300005172 Book Reviews Baltimore, and so letter writing ceases for anaesthetic was not always suitable and this three years as he and Sigerist were side-by- meant that the still-conscious patient could side. After this, the correspondence is hear pieces of his or her own ribs being thrown sometimes quite spicy, although this reader into an enamel bucket under the operating longs to know what is in the protected table’ (p. 60). Like many people with information censored in the letters as [XXX]. tuberculosis, Isabel experienced extremes of Various lasting and ephemeral historians of kindness and cruelty in an environment medicine pop in and out: Gregory Zilboorg, designed to bully patients into obedience and Owsei Temkin, George Rosen, Victor acceptance of a restricted life beyond the Robinson, Richard Shryock, for example. sanatorium walls. To this end, a certain Dr E Various German authors are identified by was fond of telling the young girls that Ackerknecht as former Nazi sympathisers. although they might look like rosy apples on Much light is shed on publishing medical the outside they were, nevertheless, rotten to history in these years. Apart from a slightly the core. It is fortunate that youth is invariably inconsistent and, for me at times, insufficiently optimistic, but from my own work with TB informative footnoting, this volume is a most- survivors, the wounded carry these poisoned welcome, carefully edited, searchlight on a barbs like shrapnel, into old age. discipline, and indeed a much wider world. This, then, is a multi-layered tale set in a marginalised community – a tale of Christopher Lawrence, personalities; friends made and lost; freezing, snow-covered beds in the name of ‘fresh air’ University College London treatment; balmy nights in three-sided wooden chalets under September stars; eggs boiled in jugs beneath running bath water; separation Isabel Gillard, Circe’s Island: A Young from lovers and children; interrupted Woman’s Memories of Tuberculosis education; tears, fears, pain and the inevitable Treatment in the 1950s (Glasgow: Unbound merry-go-round of emotions associated with Press, 2010), pp. 140, £7.99, paperback, ISBN: check-ups, X-rays, blood tests and 978-0-9558360-5-3. bronchoscopies. Isabel and her ward companions were undoubtedly luckier than Isabel Gillard was twenty and a literature most British sanatorium patients in being student at Edinburgh University when, in confined in the Royal Victoria Hospital, a 1950, she was hospitalised for over a year in pioneering institution founded at the turn of the city’s Royal Victoria Hospital for the twentieth century by Sir Robert Philip Tuberculosis. This is her personal recollection (1857–1939) who was studying in Koch’s of that time which she describes as ‘a Vienna laboratory at the time the TB bacillus determined hanging on, a waiting for an was discovered. The ‘Edinburgh System’ was upturn in fortune.’ adopted by local authorities in the UK when, By the early 1950s, tuberculosis in the in 1911, they took over responsibility for the Western world was theoretically coming under treatment of tuberculosis. But if some new control. Drug treatments such as streptomycin, treatment for TB appeared in the media, Philip PAS (para-aminosalicylic acid), and isoniazid (who became Professor of Tuberculosis at were widely available, although TB specialists Edinburgh University in 1919) always claimed were slow to relinquish the unpleasant that he was already using it in Edinburgh. As ‘technical’ procedures that kept patients Isabel was returning to her university studies, incarcerated in sanatoria and specialist (Sir) John Crofton (1912–2009), who has hospitals – artificial pneumothorax, phrenic written a foreword and appendix to this book, nerve crush, lobectomy, and thoracoplasty; ‘in was succeeding to the Edinburgh chair of the case of thoracoplasty operations, a general tuberculosis. It was Crofton and his colleagues 572 Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. IP address: 170.106.202.226, on 26 Sep 2021 at 17:05:05, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0025727300005172.
Recommended publications
  • History of Paediatric Treatment in the Reichsuniversität Straßburg (1941-1944) Aisling Shalvey
    History of paediatric treatment in the Reichsuniversität Straßburg (1941-1944) Aisling Shalvey To cite this version: Aisling Shalvey. History of paediatric treatment in the Reichsuniversität Straßburg (1941-1944). His- tory. Université de Strasbourg, 2021. English. NNT : 2021STRAG002. tel-03283700 HAL Id: tel-03283700 https://tel.archives-ouvertes.fr/tel-03283700 Submitted on 12 Jul 2021 HAL is a multi-disciplinary open access L’archive ouverte pluridisciplinaire HAL, est archive for the deposit and dissemination of sci- destinée au dépôt et à la diffusion de documents entific research documents, whether they are pub- scientifiques de niveau recherche, publiés ou non, lished or not. The documents may come from émanant des établissements d’enseignement et de teaching and research institutions in France or recherche français ou étrangers, des laboratoires abroad, or from public or private research centers. publics ou privés. UNIVERSITÉ DE STRASBOURG ÉCOLE DOCTORALE 519 Sciences humaines et sociales – Perspectives européennes [ ARCHE ] THÈSE présentée par : Aisling SHALVEY soutenue le : 12 mars 2021 pour obtenir le grade de : Docteur de l’université de Strasbourg Discipline/ Spécialité : Histoire Contemporaine de la Médecine History of Paediatric Treatment in the Reichsuniversität Straßburg (1941-1944) THÈSE dirigée par : Professeur MAURER Catherine Directrice du thèse, Université de Strasbourg Professeur WEINDLING Paul Directeur du thèse, Oxford Brookes University RAPPORTEURS : Professeur VON BUELTZINGSLOEWEN Isabelle Professor, Université Lumière Lyon 2 Professeur ROELCKE Volker Professor, Justus-Liebig- Universität Gießen AUTRES MEMBRES DU JURY : Professeur BONAH Christian Professor, Université de Strasbourg 1 Do mo sheantuismitheoirí Le grá 2 Acknowledgements I am extraordinarily lucky to have so many people who have supported me throughout the process of writing my PhD thesis; too many people to list, so I will begin by saying thank you to everyone who has helped me along the way.
    [Show full text]
  • German Historical Institute London Bulletin Vol 21 (1999), No. 1
    German Historical Institute London Bulletin Volume XXI, No. 1 May 1999 CONTENTS Seminars 3 Review Article Pains of the Past. Recent Research in the Social History of Medicine in Germany (Cornelie Usborne and Willem de Blécourt) 5 Debate Michael Maurer, Die Biographie des Bürgers. Lebensformen und Denkweisen in der formativen Phase des deutschen Bürgertums (1680-1815) (John J. Breuilly) 22 Book Reviews Natalie Fryde, Ein mittelalterlicher deutscher Großunter- nehmer. Terricus Teutonicus de Colonia in England, 1217-1247 (J. L. Bolton) 30 Peter Matheson, The Rhetoric of the Reformation (Immo Meenken) 35 Volker Then, Eisenbahnen und Eisenbahnunternehmer in der Industriellen Revolution. Ein preußisch/deutsch-englischer Vergleich (Allan Mitchell) 42 John R. Davis, Britain and the German Zollverein, 1848-66 (Hans-Werner Hahn) 47 Antje Hagen, Deutsche Direktinvestitionen in Großbritan- nien, 1871-1918 (Sidney Pollard) 52 cont. Contents Jutta Bückendorf, ‘Schwarz-weiß-rot über Ostafrika!’ Deutsche Kolonialpläne und afrikanische Realität (Matthew S. Seligmann) 58 Michael Prinz, Brot und Dividende. Konsumvereine in Deutsch- land und England vor 1914 (Christoph Dartmann) 63 Raffael Scheck, Alfred von Tirpitz and German Right-Wing Politics, 1914-1930 (Heinz Hagenlücke) 68 Winfried Müller, Schulpolitik in Bayern im Spannungsfeld von Kultusbürokratie und Besatzungsmacht 1945-1949 (David Phillips) 73 Anthony J. Nicholls, The Bonn Republic. West German Democ- racy 1945-1990 (Karl Rohe) 77 Gottfried Niedhart, Detlef Junker, and Michael W. Richter (eds), Deutschland in Europa. Nationale Interessen und inter- nationale Ordnung im 20. Jahrhundert (Klaus Larres) 83 Conference Report The Treaty of Westphalia. War and Peace in a European Dimension (Bärbel Brodt) 89 Noticeboard 93 Library News Recent Acquisitions 105 2 SEMINARS AT THE GHIL SUMMER 1999 27 April DR CHRISTOPH JAHR (Berlin) War, Discipline, and Politics.
    [Show full text]
  • Toward an Ethnography of Experimental Psychology Emily Martin 1
    UC Berkeley UC Berkeley Previously Published Works Title Plasticity and Pathology Permalink https://escholarship.org/uc/item/0vc9v8rj ISBN 9780823266135 Authors Bates, David Bassiri, Nima Publication Date 2015 Peer reviewed eScholarship.org Powered by the California Digital Library University of California Plasticity and Pathology Berkeley Forum in the Humanities Plasticity and Pathology On the Formation of the Neural Subject Edited by David Bates and Nima Bassiri Townsend Center for the Humanities University of California, Berkeley Fordham University Press New York Copyright © 2016 The Regents of the University of California All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means—electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, or any other—except for brief quotations in printed reviews, without the prior permission of the publishers. The publishers have no responsibility for the persistence or accuracy of URLs for external or third-party Internet websites referred to in this publication and do not guarantee that any content on such websites is, or will remain, accurate or appropriate. The publishers also produce their books in a variety of electronic formats. Some content that appears in print may not be available in electronic books. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Plasticity and pathology : on the formation of the neural subject / edited by David Bates and Nima Bassiri. — First edition. p. cm. — (Berkeley forum in the humanities) The essays collected here were presented at the workshop Plasticity and Pathology: History and Theory of Neural Subjects at the Doreen B. Townsend Center for the Humanities at the University of California, Berkeley.
    [Show full text]
  • Medicine on a Grand Scale”: Rudolf Virchow, Liberalism, and the Public Health
    “Medicine on a Grand Scale”: Rudolf Virchow, Liberalism, and the Public Health Ian F McNeely The Wellcome Trust Centre for the History of Medicine at University College London Occasional Publication, No. 1 ISBN 0-85484-082-6 © The Trustee of the Wellcome Trust, London, 2002 © Ian F. McNeely, 2014 The Wellcome Trust is a registered charity, no. 210183 All rights reserved. No parts of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any way or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise without the prior permission. Cover: Photograph of Rudolf Virchow by W Fechner, Wellcome Library, London. Used by permission. Contents Acknowledgements 4 Chapter 1 Medicine, Politics, and Liberalism in the Career of Rudolf Virchow 5 Chapter 2 Virchow’s Revolutionary Years: Medicine and Politics as Liberal Social Science 12 Chapter 3 Virchow and the Canalization of Berlin: the Promise of Urban Liberalism 32 Chapter 4 Virchow in Parliament: the Frustrations of National Health Politics 50 Chapter 5 Virchow and the Legacy of German Liberalism 64 Abbreviations 70 Notes 71 Bibliography 88 Index 95 Acknowledgements This little book originated as my 1992 honours thesis at Harvard. I thank the Wellcome Trust Centre for enabling me to publish it, in updated form, ten years later. I would also like to recognize those who encouraged me, personally and intellectually, along the way: Jeff Richter, Nathan Stoltzfus, Kevin Bolan, Michael Sang Yun Kim, Bob Berle, Patricia Lynch, John Patterson, Andrew Scull, and Lisa Wolverton. The Harvard Center for European Studies generously funded my research in Berlin.
    [Show full text]
  • The Dutch and German Communist Left (1900–68) Historical Materialism Book Series
    The Dutch and German Communist Left (1900–68) Historical Materialism Book Series Editorial Board Sébastien Budgen (Paris) David Broder (Rome) Steve Edwards (London) Juan Grigera (London) Marcel van der Linden (Amsterdam) Peter Thomas (London) volume 125 The titles published in this series are listed at brill.com/hm The Dutch and German Communist Left (1900–68) ‘Neither Lenin nor Trotsky nor Stalin!’ ‘All Workers Must Think for Themselves!’ By Philippe Bourrinet leiden | boston This work is a revised and English translation from the Italian edition, entitled Alle origini del comunismo dei consigli. Storia della sinistra marxista olandese, published by Graphos publishers in Genoa in 1995. The Italian edition is again a revised version of the author’s doctorates thesis presented to the Université de Paris i in 1988. The Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available online at http://catalog.loc.gov Typeface for the Latin, Greek, and Cyrillic scripts: “Brill”. See and download: brill.com/brill-typeface. issn 1570-1522 isbn 978-90-04-26977-4 (hardback) isbn 978-90-04-32593-7 (e-book) Copyright 2017 by Koninklijke Brill nv, Leiden, The Netherlands. Koninklijke Brill nv incorporates the imprints Brill, Brill Hes & De Graaf, Brill Nijhoff, Brill Rodopi and Hotei Publishing. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, translated, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without prior written permission from the publisher. Authorization to photocopy items for internal or personal use is granted by Koninklijke Brill nv provided that the appropriate fees are paid directly to The Copyright Clearance Center, 222 Rosewood Drive, Suite 910, Danvers, ma 01923, usa.
    [Show full text]
  • Albert Glotzer Papers
    http://oac.cdlib.org/findaid/ark:/13030/tf1t1n989d No online items Register of the Albert Glotzer papers Finding aid prepared by Dale Reed Hoover Institution Library and Archives © 2010 434 Galvez Mall Stanford University Stanford, CA 94305-6003 [email protected] URL: http://www.hoover.org/library-and-archives Register of the Albert Glotzer 91006 1 papers Title: Albert Glotzer papers Date (inclusive): 1919-1994 Collection Number: 91006 Contributing Institution: Hoover Institution Library and Archives Language of Material: English Physical Description: 67 manuscript boxes, 6 envelopes(27.7 Linear Feet) Abstract: Correspondence, writings, minutes, internal bulletins and other internal party documents, legal documents, and printed matter, relating to Leon Trotsky, the development of American Trotskyism from 1928 until the split in the Socialist Workers Party in 1940, the development of the Workers Party and its successor, the Independent Socialist League, from that time until its merger with the Socialist Party in 1958, Trotskyism abroad, the Dewey Commission hearings of 1937, legal efforts of the Independent Socialist League to secure its removal from the Attorney General's list of subversive organizations, and the political development of the Socialist Party and its successor, Social Democrats, U.S.A., after 1958. Creator: Glotzer, Albert, 1908-1999 Hoover Institution Library & Archives Access The collection is open for research; materials must be requested at least two business days in advance of intended use. Publication Rights For copyright status, please contact the Hoover Institution Library & Archives. Acquisition Information Acquired by the Hoover Institution Library & Archives in 1991. Preferred Citation [Identification of item], Albert Glotzer papers, [Box no., Folder no.
    [Show full text]
  • Zum 10. Todestag Von Erwin H. Ackerknecht (1906-1988)
    Zum 10. Todestag von Erwin H. Ackerknecht (1906-1988) Autor(en): Walser, Hans H. Objekttyp: Article Zeitschrift: Gesnerus : Swiss Journal of the history of medicine and sciences Band (Jahr): 55 (1998) Heft 3-4 PDF erstellt am: 01.10.2021 Persistenter Link: http://doi.org/10.5169/seals-520972 Nutzungsbedingungen Die ETH-Bibliothek ist Anbieterin der digitalisierten Zeitschriften. Sie besitzt keine Urheberrechte an den Inhalten der Zeitschriften. Die Rechte liegen in der Regel bei den Herausgebern. Die auf der Plattform e-periodica veröffentlichten Dokumente stehen für nicht-kommerzielle Zwecke in Lehre und Forschung sowie für die private Nutzung frei zur Verfügung. Einzelne Dateien oder Ausdrucke aus diesem Angebot können zusammen mit diesen Nutzungsbedingungen und den korrekten Herkunftsbezeichnungen weitergegeben werden. Das Veröffentlichen von Bildern in Print- und Online-Publikationen ist nur mit vorheriger Genehmigung der Rechteinhaber erlaubt. Die systematische Speicherung von Teilen des elektronischen Angebots auf anderen Servern bedarf ebenfalls des schriftlichen Einverständnisses der Rechteinhaber. Haftungsausschluss Alle Angaben erfolgen ohne Gewähr für Vollständigkeit oder Richtigkeit. Es wird keine Haftung übernommen für Schäden durch die Verwendung von Informationen aus diesem Online-Angebot oder durch das Fehlen von Informationen. Dies gilt auch für Inhalte Dritter, die über dieses Angebot zugänglich sind. Ein Dienst der ETH-Bibliothek ETH Zürich, Rämistrasse 101, 8092 Zürich, Schweiz, www.library.ethz.ch http://www.e-periodica.ch Gesnerus 55 (1998) 175-182 Zum 10. Todestag von Erwin H. Ackerknecht (1906-1988) Hans H. Walser Am 18. November 1998 jährte sich der Todestag von Erwin H. Ackerknecht zum zehnten Male. Grund genug, dieses ausserordentlichen Mannes zu gedenken, der wie kein anderer die Medizingeschichte in unserem Land geprägt hat.
    [Show full text]
  • Bio-Bibliographical Sketch of Erwin Heinz Ackerknecht
    Lubitz' TrotskyanaNet Erwin Heinz Ackerknecht Bio-Bibliographical Sketch Contents: • Basic biographical data • Biographical sketch • Selective bibliography • Sidelines, notes on archives Basic biographical data Name: Erwin Heinz Ackerknecht Other names (by-names, pseud. etc.): Erwin Ackerknecht ; Erwin Henry Ackerknecht ; B. ; E.B. ; E. Bauer ; Emma Bauer ; Erwin Bauer ; Eugen Bauer Date and place of birth: June 1, 1906, Stettin (Germany) Date and place of death: November 18, 1988, Zürich (Switzerland) Professions, careers, etc.: Medical historian, Professor Dr. med. Nationality: German, later: U.S. Time of activity in Trotskyist movement: 1928 - 1934 Biographical sketch Erwin Heinz Ackerknecht was born in Stettin (Pomerania, Germany) – which after World War II be­ came Polish and is now called Szczecin – as son of Dr. Erwin Julius Ackerknecht (1880-1960), an eminent librarian, renowned library director, author, literary critic and Professor of literary history, and his wife Clara, b. Pfitzer (1879-1958). His uncle, Eberhard Ackerknecht (1883-1968), was a renowned veterinary anatom. His parents were protestants (Ackerknecht later became non-denominational) ori­ ginating from Swabia. He got married three times: in 1932 he married Helene Rother (from whom he soon divorced), in 1943 Lucy Krüger, and after divorce from his second wife he married Edith Weinberg in 1958 with whom he had already been acquainted in his Leipzig years [see below]. Ackerknecht had 3 daughters: Ina (b. 1932) from his first wife, Sylvia (b. 1941, married name: Gonzales), and Ellen (b. 1944, married name: Dollar) from his second wife. His third wife had two children from an earlier marriage, Chris­ tine (married name: Gohl) and Stefan Schuler who became part of the Ackerknecht family.
    [Show full text]
  • The Origin of Clinical Laboratories*)
    Biittner: Origin of clinical laboratories 585 Eur. J. Clin. Chem. Clin. Biochem. Vol. 30, 1992, pp. 585-593 © 1992 Walter de Gruyter & Co. Berlin • New York The Origin of Clinical Laboratories*) By 7. Biittner Institutjur Klinische Chemielim Zentrum Laboratoriumsmedizin, Medizinische Hochschule Hannover, Germany (Received May 14/July 10, 1992) Summary: Clinical laboratories are a main attribute of clinical chemistry. Their historical development is therefore of great interest in the history of clinical chemistry. The results of a study are given which was undertaken to trace the establishment of clinical laboratories in central Europe, mainly in France, England and in the German-speaking countries. Presuppositions for the creation of these laboratories were: (i) The idea that the results of laboratory examinations can be used as "chemical signs" in medical diagnosis, and (ii) a new concept of disease which was the result of the "birth of the clinic" at the end of the 18th century. The study shows that the development of clinical laboratories began 200 years ago. Up to the end of the 19th century, three development phases can be distinguished: an early phase from 1790 to 1840, a phase of institutionalization from 1840 to 1855, and a phase of extension between 1855 and 1890. To characterize these three phases, the foundation of the laboratories, the layout of the laboratory rooms, their equipment and instrumentation, and the usual staff are described with the aid of typical examples. Introduction dertaken to trace the origin of clinical laboratories In the middle of the last century Claude Bernard and their development in the early 19th century.
    [Show full text]
  • Letters to the Editor
    Letters to the Editor Re: Learning from inspirational leaders in a of employer-based health companies and the self-insured. time of crisis The provider fees for the former group will be set by I am a physician, retired for some years. In reading Dr Medicare and, for the later, by private insurance companies. Richard Byyny’s reflections (The Pharos, Winter 2021, pp. As Dr. Byyny points out, 31 percent of health care ex- 2–7) on inspirational passages and their importance dur- penditures are for administration. The vast majority of ing various periods of his career, it stirred a memory of my this is related to high overhead of insurance companies (30 own. I was a young internist offered a nursing home floor percent), hospitals (25 percent), and provider overhead due populated by the moderate functioning elderly. I remember to dealing with multiple payers which would change very purchasing a small paperback focusing on issues specific to little under his proposed plan. such people: falls, nutrition, polypharmacy, immunizations, The solution is always about the money and who controls it. depression, managing patient and family expectations, Under a true universal single-payer system, there would end of life issues and clinical approaches. A small piece of be one payer and one fee schedule for all providers the Talmud (Tractate Berachot 8b) became the focus of a whether capitated or fee-for-service. All hospitals would discussion amongst a group of us. In translation it stated, be non-profit, and private insurance companies wouldn’t “be careful with an elderly scholar who had forgotten his exist other than those that would have their billing services learning, because the tablets and the broken tablets both contracted to the single-payer.
    [Show full text]
  • And Lazarettos of the Late Medieval and Early Question of What Is a Hospital Also Allows Dedication to Spiritual and Psychologic
    Book Reviews and lazarettos of the late medieval and early hospital. The doctor comes tumbling down modern period, these functions re-emerge at from his elevated perch, and joins the much other stages of the institutions' history. Nor, richer and more variegated world of for Risse, does the hospital after the "birth patients, nurses, volunteers, donors, visitors of the clinic" have a monopoly of the and cleaners. The rituals of the doctor's pedagogic and curative roles: we see the rounds are seen in the context of a wide hospital as an institution of teaching and variety of prior and competing forms. This learning and state-of-the-art medical care in is not hospital care as a dyadic patient/ many other prior instances. Then again, practitioner relationship, but rather a Risse's broad church approach to the history sensitive to the complex, textured question of what is a hospital also allows and multi-layered character of hospital life. him to include mental hospitals (and earlier The imaginative emphasis on the dedication to spiritual and psychological experiential dimension of hospital care healing) as part of the same institutional makes this erudite and compelling study matrix. memorable and often moving. Each variant of the hospital "type" is analysed through broadly the same prism. Colin Jones, In each case, the hospital's mission, nature University of Warwick of patronage or financial support, organizational staff, patient base and rituals of healing and care are woven into the story. Each section is given greater Caroline Hannaway and Ann La Berge immediacy and impact by Risse's use of the (eds), Constructing Paris medicine, Wellcome specific example of a personal Institute Series in the History of Medicine/ narrative-told through the individual's Clio Medica 50, Amsterdam and Atlanta, own words.
    [Show full text]
  • Doing Anthropology in Wartime and War Zones
    Reinhard Johler, Christian Marchetti, Monique Scheer (eds.) Doing Anthropology in Wartime and War Zones Histoire | Band 12 Reinhard Johler, Christian Marchetti, Monique Scheer (eds.) Doing Anthropology in Wartime and War Zones. World War I and the Cultural Sciences in Europe An electronic version of this book is freely available, thanks to the support of libraries working with Knowledge Unlat- ched. KU is a collaborative initiative designed to make high quality books Open Access for the public good. The Open Access ISBN for this book is 978-3-8394-1422-4. More information about the initiative and links to the Open Access version can be found at www. knowledgeunlatched.org. This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommer- cial-NoDerivatives 4.0 (BY-NC-ND) which means that the text may be used for non-commercial purposes, provided credit is given to the author. For details go to http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ To create an adaptation, translation, or derivative of the original work and for commercial use, further permission is required and can be obtained by contac- ting [email protected] Creative Commons license terms for re-use do not apply to any content (such as graphs, figures, photos, excerpts, etc.) not original to the Open Access pu- blication and further permission may be required from the rights holder. The obligation to research and clear permission lies solely with the party re-using the material. © 2010 transcript Verlag, Bielefeld Bibliographic information published by the Deutsche Nationalbibliothek The Deutsche Nationalbibliothek lists this publication in the Deutsche Nationalbibliografie; detailed bibliographic data are available in the Inter- net at http://dnb.d-nb.de Cover layout: Kordula Röckenhaus, Bielefeld Cover illustration: The Hamburg anthropologist Paul Hambruch with soldiers from (French) Madagascar imprisoned in the camp in Wüns- dorf, Germany, in 1918.
    [Show full text]