Ignaz Semmelweis: An Obnoxious Hero

So I came across a link to the blogpost A Tale of Two Doctors

What is told is not the whole story. Not even close. The section on Ignaz Semmelweis contains so numerous factual errors I think it it slanderous.

Semmelweis did actually collect the data, but that was not enough. Here I'm quoting Wikipedia, but this is a story my parents told us kids at the dinner table, so I know it well:

Despite various publications of results where hand-washing reduced mortality to below 1%, Semmelweis's observations conflicted with the established scientific and medical opinions of the time and his ideas were rejected by the medical community.

The doctors — dressed in tailcoat and top hat — would perform autopsies on former patients, and then go right over and assists in births without changing or even cleaning their hands beyond a perfunctory wipe with a rag. Needless to say, infections were common and mortality sky high when doctors attended. But, Semmelweis did note that such was not the case when midwives did the delivery. Through through record keeping, statistics, and finally by performing clinical experiments, he proved the connection and was able to drastically decrease mortality.

However, he failed to convince his superiors who did not appreciate being blamed, nor being told to take time out to was their hands.

The rejection of his findings had several causes:

• He did not propose an underlying mechanism. Remember, this is before germ theory.
• He accused the other doctors for actually being the cause of the horrendous mortality at the clinic.
• The patients (poor and prostitutes) at the clinic had no standing in society.
• He was a Jew. Not a good thing to be in Vienna at the time.

As with so many heroes, Semmelweis was a flawed human being. After having proved his case, and having the findings rejected out of ignorance and prejudice, he resorted to vicious personal attacks, somewhat incoherent articles and lectures, and in general behaved like an obnoxious jerk.

But these flaws are entirely outside of his brilliance as a true scientist who built a solid framework for his claims. It can be said that he laid the foundation for future clinical research.

And no, physicians still don't was their hands:
NYT: With Money at Risk, Hospitals Push Staff to Wash Hands
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For more reading, the Wikipedia article about Ignaz Semmelweis is actually a pretty good starting point to this fascinating story.

Thanks to +Chauncy Gardiner for finding the original story. I have also posted a slightly earlier version of this post as a comment here.

I'm eating Rib Foot's paw!

The fantastic DoubtfulNews.com just shared a story enticingly titled Mystery foot sent for examination.

Please read the story since I can't make it justice like idoubtit can. Anyway, the bottom of the story is a picture of a non-human foot (i.e., must be Big Foot then.)

Then I look down on the plate right in front of me where another foot shaped object resides — in this case my half completed dinner — and I'm struck by the visual similarity.

Rib Foot

A bit of trimming of the meat and bones and I could auction it on eBay. The money and possibilities spin through my brain.

Sigh. But no, those darn ethics. I should have them removed some day. Would pay for itself in no time.

Rep. Matt Salmon loves his gay son: is there more to this story?

Rep. Matt Salmon: Gay son hasn’t changed my views on gay marriage

There is a recent story about the Republican Congressman from Phoenix Arizona that is against marriage equality even though his son is gay. I feel sorry for him, letting his hate and insecurities overwhelm his love for his son, but there is more to this.

Obviously the external pressure on him from the outside to conform to the Party politics is immense. His district in the conservative suburbs of Phoenix and his Mormon church, will kick him out the moment he changes his view — a view about the evils of homosexuality that he has been loud and proud about — so maybe there is more than a little bit of trying to save his own butt.

In fact, there is a heartbreaking interview with his son and his son's boyfriend in the Phoenix New Times from September 2010:

Over the Rainbow: Matt Salmon's Son Wants to Make a Name For Himself in Republican Politics -- Only He's Gay

(This is an archived page, so the formatting is bad. Scroll down a bit and you will see the article.)

When Salmon's parents learned in January that Kent wasn't just a friend but was dating their son, he was no longer invited to come around. "The thing is, they like Kent," Salmon says. "They think he's an awesome person. They just don't like me being in a gay relationship. They don't like that we're together."

"Everybody's pretty much told me, 'You're fine, we love you, but your partner's not welcome because we don't want gay around us,'" Salmon says. "And I'm like, 'Well, I am gay. What if he doesn't act gay? Is that okay? Can he come around?'"

So when Rep. Matt J. Salmon says "My son is by far one of the most important people in my life. I love him more than I can say…" it is important to remember that however much he loves his son, he loves his office and church a bit more.

Now we see that the 3TV News interview is just a desperate attempt at playing both sides. A bit like Obama's "evolving" view on marriage equality, Salmon is hinting to the progressive part of his audience that he might change his view Real Soon Now , while at the same time reassuring his church and electorate that he holds steadfast in his bigotry.

Matt Salmon's generation of homophobic politicians is coming to an end at a record pace. Maybe we will have an openly gay or lesbian president in my life time. Who knows, maybe it will be his son, Matt R. Salmon, that breaks that barrier.