Genius on the Edge: The Bizarre Double Life of Dr. William Stewart Halsted

Host: John Russell, MD Dr. John Russell welcomes author Gerald Imber, MD to talk about his book, Genius on the Edge: The Bizarre Double Life of Dr. William Stewart Halsted, an intriguing biography about the 19th century doctor who invented modern surgery. Halsted was a brilliant and driven physician, but he was also haunted by a lifelong addition to cocain and other pain killers. Despite his internal struggles, he is credited with taking surgery from the horrific, dangerous practice it once was to what we now know as a lifesaving art.