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The first commandment for a doctor is very old, as evidenced by the fact that it is written in Latin, primum non nocere (above all, do no harm). So when America wants to kill a condemned man with a lethal injection, do not find a doctor who wants to attend such proceedings. Finish making a prison employee, which can make costly mistakes and prolong the agony of the damned. To make matters worse, sometimes it is found too late I was innocent.
This precept of no harm had some painful exceptions at different times in history. The guillotine, for example, is attributed to Dr. Joseph Ignace Guillotin, a deputy in the National Assembly, which recommended for use in executions in place of traditional methods. This element is related to the French Revolution, but even before similar instruments were used in several countries. The doctor suggested to the assembly in 1879, the adoption of a machine that would prevent unnecessary suffering to the condemned. I do not know if anyone would stay calmer in no time thinking that would cut off his head with a huge blade that would fall from several meters. A Legend has it that this doctor was killed as a result of the same engine, but the truth is that he died a victim of poisoning was quite common at the time.
Many years later, UnitedStates was in the war between north and south, in danger of ceasing to be "close." Dr. Richard Jordan Gatling, doctor and inventor, thought that if I could create a device with the firepower of a hundred men, the exposure of soldiers and casualties that will look really decreased. The first version of that weapon was capable of firing 200 times per minute. Enough for the time. Today, a Gatling gun can fire up to 6000 times per minute. Third
case. Many have heard or read the term "lobotomy." According to wikipedia , is "the total or partial destruction of the frontal lobes delcerebro without ablation, in which case we would speak of lobectomy. Let's see what else says
that article:
" The first attempts of this practice occurred in humans since 1935, when the neurologist Egas Moniz joined the Lima Almeidas surgeon at the University of Lisbon for a series of prefrontal leucotomy, a procedure that separated the connection between the prefrontal cortex and the rest of the brain.
Moniz and Lima said to have good results, especially in the treatment of depression although about 6% of patients survived the operation and frequently recorded adverse changes in personality and social functioning of individuals. Despite the risks, the procedure took with some enthusiasm, especially in the U.S. as a treatment for previously incurable mental conditions. Moniz received a Nobel prize in 1949. However, all his reasoning was based on a single clinical case or even human. The program of psychosurgery for Moniz was based on a single observation in a single chimpanzee.
The procedure was popularized in the United States by Walter Freeman, who was not even a surgeon. Ultimately entre 40.000 y 50.000 pacientes fueron lobotomizados, con poco o sin cualquier estudio de seguimiento para considerar si el tratamiento era eficaz. Las lobotomías como forma de tratar la enfermedad mental eran una barbarie, que solo pudo ser frenada con el desarrollo de anti-psicóticos. La última lobotomía legal se practicó en 1965. "
Si algunos creen que "todo tiempo pasado fue mejor", ahora puede pensarlo dos veces. Afortunadamente estas fueron solo excepciones, y el resto de quienes toman esa noble profesión siguen salvando vidas o ayudando a mejorar la calidad de las mismas. Muchos males pueden ser diagnosticados en etapa más temprana y con más precisión. Tal vez seamos afortunados de haber nacido at this time and not earlier ones.
