
Doctor Ice Pick
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Narrated by:
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Chanté McCormick
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By:
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Claire Prentice
About this listen
A haunting and true short story of the lobotomist who cut a brutal swathe through the lives of thousands of vulnerable Americans from the author of Miracle at Coney Island.
In July 1952, Dr. Walter Freeman arrived at the gates of a West Virginia asylum. In his medical bag he carried two metal picks and a surgical hammer. He had invented a “cheap, easy” ten-minute lobotomy. The press described it as a miracle cure, a new frontier in psychosurgery.
That summer, in just twelve days, Freeman lobotomized 228 men, women, and children in West Virginia’s public mental hospitals. His blitzkrieg of brain surgery became known as “Operation Ice Pick,” named after the tools he wielded.
To some, the doctor was a hero, solving the crisis facing the nation’s underfunded and overcrowded psychiatric institutions. But many who watched him operate saw a dangerous risk-taker, a showman and a charlatan. This is the true story of a scientific pioneer whose misguided quest created one of the biggest tragedies in American medical history.
©2022 Claire Prentice. (P)2022 Brilliance Publishing, Inc., all rights reserved.Listeners also enjoyed...
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Morbidly wonderful
- By serine on 04-08-16
quick and interesting
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A good time passer
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WOW! What a history lesson!
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Thousands of people left in limbo by scam artist
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That one psychologically disconnected person armed with a medical degree could get political, medical, and press support to victimize thousands … in the name of ego … and political budget expediency.
A deep reminder of human beings … and how humanity is not universal among them.
Well written and absolutely Chilling
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HEARTBREAKING & ALL TOO COMMON MEDICAL STORY…
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Interesting
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A Harrowing Exeriment
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DOCTOR ICE PICK
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Wow
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