Doctors Destroyed the Man Who Saved Them

Doctors Destroyed the Man Who Saved Them

In 1846 one hospital division in Vienna had two clinics. Women admitted to one of them died at several times the rate of the other. Nobody could explain it, and the women themselves knew which door they dreaded.

One doctor worked out why. His answer cut the deaths dramatically, and it cost him his job, his reputation and eventually his freedom.

This is a story about being right too early, and what it really takes for people to accept an answer they do not want to hear.