The Lancet has just now corrected the obituary of a pioneering epidemiologist after what it calls "an unduly prolonged period of reflection."
The obit was published in 1858.
It reported the death of John Snow, who bucked the wisdom of "most medical men at the time" by suggesting that cholera "was a disorder of the digestive system not the blood; and that it was contagious and spread through the oral-faecal route, largely through contaminated drinking water." The medical men widely believed the cause was "miasma, or the stench from decaying vegetable and animal matter."
Here is the original obit, in full:
Dr John Snow: This well-known physician died at noon, on the 16th instant, at his house in Sackville Street, from an attack of apoplexy. His researches on chloroform and other anaesthetics were appreciated by the profession.
The perceptive reader will note that it fails to even mention cholera.
The blame might be put at the feet of The Lancet's founding editor, Thomas Wakley, who had earlier showed "surprising contempt for Snow" in an editorial and was "incensed at what he saw as an attempt to block important public health reforms, accused Snow of unscientific thinking," according to The Lancet.
Thanks to Andrew Beaujon at Poynter for alerting us to this breaking news.
And before we go, one more lesson we might take from John Snow. As Wikipedia recounts:
In 1830 Snow became a member of the Temperance Movement, and lived for a decade or so as a vegetarian and teetotaler. In the mid-1840s his health deteriorated, and he returned to meat-eating and drinking wine.
-Paul Raeburn
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