Ep 59- Beware the Ice Pick: The Lobotomy Era

Send us Fan MailAn ice pick through the eye socket. Ten minutes of “surgery.” A taxi ride home. That’s not an urban legend, it’s a documented moment in the history of lobotomy, and it captures the sick casualness that let psychosurgery become mainstream.If you care about medical ethics, informed consent, disability rights, or how mental health treatment gets shaped by social pressure, this conversation will stick with you. Subscribe, share this with a friend who loves medical history, and leave a review with your take: where do you see “manageability over care” showing up today?Sources for today’s episode:National Library of Medicine — All in Their Heads: When Faces Made the Case for Lobotomyhttps://infocus.nlm.nih.gov/2020/01/30/all-in-their-heads-when-faces-made-the-case-for-lobotomy/Nobel Prize — Controversial Psychosurgery Resulted in a Nobel Prizehttps://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/medicine/1949/moniz/article/Nobel Prize — The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 1949https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/medicine/1949/summary/Encyclopaedia Britannica — Lobotomyhttps://www.britannica.com/science/lobotomyEncyclopaedia Britannica — Transorbital Lobotomyhttps://www.britannica.com/science/transorbital-lobotomyEncyclopaedia Britannica — Walter Jackson Freeman IIhttps://www.britannica.com/biography/Walter-Jackson-Freeman-IIEncyclopaedia Britannica — How Many People Actually Got Lobotomized?https://www.britannica.com/story/how-many-people-actually-got-lobotomizedStoryCorps — My Lobotomyhttps://storycorps.org/stories/my-lobotomy/StoryCorps — StoryCorps 455: My Lobotomyhttps://storycorps.org/podcast/storycorps-455-my-lobotomy/PBS American Experience — The Lobotomisthttps://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/films/lobotomist/PBS American Experience — Howard Dullyhttps://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/lobotomist-howard-dully/John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum — Rosemary Kennedyhttps://www.jfklibrary.org/learn/about-jfk/the-kennedy-family/rosemary-kennedyU.S. National Park Service — Rosemary Kennedy, The Eldest Kennedy Daughterhttps://www.nps.gov/articles/000/rosemary-kennedy-the-eldest-kennedy-daughter.htmThe Historic New Orleans Collection — Tennessee Williams Family Lettershttps://hnoc.org/research-collections/collection-highlights/tennessee-williams-family-lettersThe Tennessee Williams Annual Review — Not Like All the Other Horses: Neurodiversity and the Case of Rose Williamshttps://www.tennesseewilliamsstudies.org/journal/work.php?ID=113Springer — A Question of Consent: Coercion and Consent to Lobotomy, 1946–1958https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-030-65306-4_11Chart Note sources:U.S. Food and Drug Administration — FDA Clears First Blood Test Used in Diagnosing Alzheimer’s Diseasehttps://www.fda.gov/news-events/press-announcements/fda-clears-first-blood-test-used-diagnosing-alzheimers-diseaseAlzheimer’s Association International Conference — New Clinical Practice Guideline for Blood-Based Biomarkershttps://aaic.alz.org/releases-2025/clinical-practice-guideline-blood-based-biomarkers.aspU.S. Food and Drug Administration — Elecsys Phospho-Tau (181P) Plasma, K252163https://www.accessdata.fda.gov/cdrh_docs/reviews/K252163.pdf Support the showDon't miss a (heart) beat! Check out our Instagram @doctoringthetruthpodcast and email us your Medical Mishaps at [email protected]. Join us on Facebook at Doctoring the Truth, and TikTok @doctoring the truth. Don't forget to download, rate, and review so we can keep bringing you more exciting content each week!Stay safe, and stay suspicious...trust, after all, is a delicate thing!Don't forget to check out these fantastic discounts using promo code STAYSUSPICIOUS from our sponsors at:*thecuminclub.com for 30% off*https://strongcoffeecompany.com/discount/STAYSUSPICIOUS for 20% off*www.handful.com for 30% off *www.standshoes.com for 15% off*www.oldglory.com for 15% off*www.getcheeky.com for 30% off*https://mollybz.com for 10% off *www.RSRVCollective.com for 30% off *klearprotein.com for 20% off*www.torrain.org for 15% off*www.cozyearth.com for 21% off* www.yarokhair.com for 15% off  *www.loveindus.com for 21% off ...