The book contains over 100 anecdotes from over five centuries of medical history. This collection of true tales ranges from the painful to the hilarious. We were brought up in an era when doctors were regarded as God in most Indian homes. Patients and their families never thought of questioning the doctor’s judgement at any point of time. Times have changed and the patient-doctor relationship is full of suspicion and mistrust nowadays. Almost two decades ago a young doctor who was going to the UK to complete his MRCP degree had remarked that doctors should be treated like any other professionals .They had to deliver against payment and that is where the transaction ended. I had found the logic contrary to my understanding of the noble mission of medical profession. Michael O’Donnell’s book portrays the profession from a wide range of angles. The stories are strikingly refreshing written in a concise manner in two to four pages each .The headings are imaginative and sometimes quite humorous.
Followed by a brief introduction the book opens with a chapter called “The case of the vanishing father figure” where O’Donnell talks about Hippocrates and the Hippocratic Oath. In 1973 the science writer Dr Robert Reid wrote “It takes little consideration of the Hippocratic oath to conclude that it is a bigoted and dangerous document. It embraces hardline trade union practices…… As well as encouraging nepotistic incompetent hierarchies, it hands out totally ambiguous ethical advice.” O’Donnell writes “ One dangerous effect of the Hippocratic inheritance is the way it is used by those who think that because they have acquired a medical degree, a divine light sparkles somewhere about their person”. I was pretty amused reading this statement but I must say the doctor is not alone guilty .Often divinity is bestowed upon them by well meaning patients and their families.
Trust me I ‘m a doctor recounts the story of Alexander the Great and the young doctor Philip the Acarnanian .Alexander was struck down by a debilitating disease during his sojourn in Asia Minor . When the king’s physicians refused to treat him Philip agreed to try his skills. In spite of receiving a warning that Philip might poison him Alexander went ahead and swallowed the potion that Philip gave him. He recovered to win the battle against Darius.
In The Surgical Triple Whammy the author narrates the funny and sad story of the surgical speedstar Robert Liston a daring and successful Scottish surgeon who was known for his operating speed .Before the coming of anaesthetics the most admired of a surgeon’s skills was his operating speed. Sometimes his speed had “side-effects”. Once while amputing a patient’s leg in his standard two and a half minutes time his flashing knife removed the poor man’s testicles and on another occasion he inadvertently removed the fingers of his young assistant.
Large fees and how to get them is about doctors attempt to balance the demands of Hippocrates and Mammon. Faddy about his Food tells the story of a three year old Spanish child who refused to eat and was taken to various doctors by the anxious mother .The child thereafter underwent a stomach operation which revealed he had swallowed 30 pebbles, two collar studs, two buttons, two coins ,one screw and two plastic gambling chips.
The tales are extremely well chosen and is eminently suitable for lay readers. An excellent read for information, leisure and entertainment. Michael O’Donnell was a practising doctor, was editor of World Medicine and wrote a weekly column for BMJ.
The book can be ordered directly from www.anovabooks.com .Other topics under the strangest series – boxing,golf,sailing,tennis,television,scientific inventions political characters etc.
