But British gynecologist Malcolm Pearce has perfected a medical method so smart, so efficient, and so, well, fiendishly clever, that colleagues are sure to copy it. In fact, we suspect Pearce may have adapted the techniques of Richard Meinertzhagen, the pioneering British ornithologist . Pearce published the research that ensured his claim to fame in 1994, describing a surgical fix for ectopic pregnancy. In these ill- fated pregnancies, the embryo implants outside the uterus, usually in the fallopian tubes. Because only the uterus can provide the blood supply and nutrition a developing fetus needs, ectopic pregnancies always fail.
Ectopic pregnancies are dangerous.
Generally, the condition announces itself by severe abdominal pain. In some cases, massive bleeding kills the woman. In 1989, the problem caused 88,400 hospitalizations in the United States. Although Pearce cited two cures for the condition in the medical literature, there was no accepted treatment. In other words, ectopic pregnancy was the perfect problem for a man with Dr. Pearce's skills.