They did some good things

You may not want to know how they did it

“The German Red Cross needs your cooperation”

Yes, war has brought about amazing advances in medicine. This is a sad fact, but not surprising in that necessity is the mother of invention. The argument that these medical developments would have eventually occurred regardless, is an unsupported opinion to which anyone is wholly entitled, unrelated to my personal distaste for war in general.

The following is a short list of medical advances we mostly take for granted now. I am amazed every time I review it:  

• The Crimean War brought us the venerable Florence Nightingale in October 1854, leading to the introduction of handwashing which prevented untold deaths. Afterword:  This practice is still dismissed by many healthcare providers.

• The British Royal Navy was the first to routinely utilize vitamin C (citrus juice) to prevent scurvy in its sailors, allowing Great Britain to maintain a 20-year blockade of the English Channel and successfully defend itself from a Napoleon’s invasion.

• The American Civil War popularized the use of anesthesia, only discovered in 1846.

• World War I facilitated the regular use of blood transfusions. With close proximity of battlefield aid stations, this practice saved many lives.

• WWI popularized volunteer ambulance drivers (mostly conscientious objectors), which expedited medical care and significantly improved survival rates.

• WWI led to the development of chemotherapy for cancer treatment through observations of poison gas effects. This has thankfully been refined dramatically.

• World War II expanded the use of antibiotics, preventing an incalculable number of deaths.

• WWII brought the technology of using metal plates to help heal fractures, developed by German physicians, remarkably facilitating their soldiers’ return to fighting.

• The Korean War first used helicopters for even faster battlefield evacuations to more advanced medical facilities, saving even more lives.

• The Korean War fast-tracked the development of dialysis, tremendously improving survival from as low as 5% to nearly 90%.

• The Vietnam War first employed the use of frozen blood products. This was a significant advance in preserving the blood supply.

• The Vietnam War also began use of antiseptic and antibiotic impregnated dressings.

• The Vietnam War did finally bring later awareness of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), which has since been recognized in writings of the Crimean War.

My mother, the Talibangelical paradox I cite frequently, had on several occasions defended bigoted organizations for having done “some good things.”

Fast forward to late October 2024, when General John Kelly finally found his Red Line Viagra and told us all that for years before, Trump had repeatedly told him that “Hitler did some good things.” You know my memory for that all too familiar phrase caused palpitations. My disgust for General Kelly sitting on that damning information for so long brought me out of it.

Did that phrase also bother you, but leave you trying to put a finger on why that was? Such a statement represents either a cherry-picking logical fallacy (if you assume true belief in the position), or paltering (if you assume malintent). In this case, context wins the day.

Paltering gets my vote.

Apologies for the obvious, but it bears mentioning for the rest of this post that “did” is past tense.

Would you then be surprised to know that in the field of medicine, in 2024, providers and patients still give homage to various Nazis, or Nazi-enablers?

Am I saying that progressives are being just a bit hypocritical when punching Nazis while awarding achievement trophies to genocidal fascists? No. We’ve managed to remove most honorifics to Confederates from ethical society, but I dare say the medical Nazi problem is rooted in ignorance of history. Oh, and lack of curiosity.

WARNING: The following contains descriptions of the horrific nature of Nazi medical experimentation. Please do NOT continue if this is likely to cause distress.

For others, the following, though difficult, needs to be said.

You may have never encountered some of these eponyms, but others are in very common use. In my several decades in medicine, I have had the opportunity to politely request colleagues and patients to use the more current preferred names, and explained why. Many told me the eponym was “easier.” I believe that attitude is partly why we are where we are today.

• Asperger Syndrome, named for Nazi enabler Hans Asperger. Autism Spectrum Disorder is a more apt term, regardless.

• Beck-Ibrahim disease, was partially named for Yusuf Ibrahim, who supported the Nazi euthanasia program. It is now known as Congenital Cutaneous Candidiasis.

• Cauchois-Eppinger-Frugoni Syndrome, was partially named for Nazi Hans Eppinger, who conducted human experiments in Dachau. It is now known as Portal Vein Thrombosis.

• The Clara cell, now known now as a Club cell, was named for Nazi Max Clara who studied executed prisoners’ tissues.

• Hallervorden-Spatz Disease, now known as Pantothenate Kinase-Associated Neurodegeneration, was named for Nazis Julius Hallervorden and Hugo Spatz, who were present at the murder of dozens of children and examined euthanasia victims’ brains.

• Reiter’s Syndrome, now known as Reactive Arthritis, was named for Nazi physician leader Hans Conrad Julius Reiter. He authorized medical experiments on concentration camp prisoners.

• Seitelberger Disease, now known as Infantile Neuroaxonal Dystrophy, was named for Neurologist and former SS Franz Seitelberger, who studied Aktion T4 euthanasia victims, eventually getting his PhD in 1954. Yep.

• Van Bogaert-Scherer-Epstein Syndrome, now known as Cerebrotendineous Xanthomatosis, was partially named for Nazi Hans Joachim Scherer, who examined brains of euthanized children.

• Wegener’s Granulomatosis, now known as Granulomatosis with Polyangiitis, was named for Nazi Friedrich Wegener. He “worked in close proximity to the genocide machinery in Lodz” and his mentor Martin Staemmler promoted “racial hygiene.”

• Wiskott-Aldrich Syndrome, unfortunately still without a replacement name, was partially named for Alfred Wiskott, a pediatrician at one of several German children’s hospitals, where many “handicapped” children were euthanized.

• Rett Syndrome, unfortunately without a replacement name, was named for Nazi Andreas Rett, who studied genocide victims.

In case you’re wondering, yes, I do believe it’s OK to punch a Nazi before they take you to the “showers.”

https://www.axios.com/2024/10/23/john-kelly-trump-hitler

https://www.fpri.org/article/2018/02/advances-in-medicine-during-wars/

https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.3109/08860229209106623

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_medical_eponyms_with_Nazi_associations

https://www.uvm.edu/~lkaelber/children/goerden/goerden.html

https://anygoodthing.com/2017/01/26/should-you-ever-punch-a-nazi/