In the late 1800s, seemingly out of nowhere, American doctors saw a massive, sudden increase in female patients suffering from “hysteria.” Dr. Robert Battey, one of the founders of the American Gynecological Society, proclaimed that hormones secreted by the ovaries were the culprit and stridently advocated surgical removal of both ovaries as the cure. Patients went from doctor to doctor begging for the surgery. Doctors who refused were criticized as “wanting in humanity” and “guilty of criminal neglect.” Doctors who complied were heroes, according to a history of the procedure recorded in the Bulletin of the History of Medicine. Up...
Monitoring Antisemitism Intel
