Bisbee daily review., 1914-11-15

cure" Of Dr r r Friedman of Berlin. which has just been brought to public attention again and disposed o' once for au In tbe report of Che United states Public Health Service The apparent failure of Dr. Friedman on his American tour had not been absolutely con. elusive to laymen though American doctors had from the first denounced him as an mposter The nvest gators have made careful experiments with the md have traced the history of all the patients treated by Dr. Friedman that they able to find, about 100 in number And their conclusion is,
 First that Dr Friedman has not discovered
 dependable cure for tuberculosis.
 Second that his serum has not the passive
 virtue of harmlessness.
 Before the matter lapses into oblivion, it may be worth while to tell how the great Friedmann myth started. Dr. Friedman owes his fame absolutely to American newspapers And the publicity which aroused more interest comment and hope than other med cal discovery had evoked the product of one American reporters bad judgment
 This individual an old newspaper man, and a good one, a typical American reporter skilled in scenting a story" running down the news and getting 1t the wire while it's hot-was in Europe representing league of American newspapers He heard of a young doctor in Berlin who professed to be curing tuberculosis He went to Berlin to investigate He learned that Dr. Friedman had treated many patients with serum consisting of nonvirulent tuberculosis germs obtained from turtles These germs. when injected into the sys of a human being suffering from tuberculosis were said to kill the vruen tubercle baci and thereby store the victim to health
 The reporter suffered from two great disadvantages First he could not speak read German. Second he knew nothing of bacterioogy any other science in volved Through interpreter he talked with Dr Friendmann and of his patients Then he rushed to cable office and wired his chief in Chicago asking permission cable immense scoop the discover, of an absolute cure for tuberculosis almost sgnifi cant to the civilized word as would reappearance Christ the Great Healer
 It looked dubious to the chief There had been many tuberculosis cures" But the chief also typical Amer ican newspaper man trusted the repororal judgment o the man on the spot the story cabled and with in week had been spread the front of severa dozen newspapers all the country that depend or that particular office for features.
 Of course it made tremendous sensation. All new' agencies and all newspapers had follow There was vhrwind of publicity-absoluely free and in good faith Certain powerful newspapers and magazines undertoo to make careful investigation Before they had got far Dr. Fredmann, in response to a tremendous popular de mand came to America to demonstrate his cure.
 The rest is common knowledge. He failed. H. proved be a bmger, apparently either insane dis honest or incompetent He treated many patients som of whom recovered some of whom died others of whor showed no appreciabe effect from the noculauon An
 the conclusion of the whole matter is that the worl must be content wait
 But the hope of thousands of victims need nc be utterly destroyed by this failure The doctors houg still baffled will surely win in the end. It would absurd to declare that a profession which within generation, has made such progress in bacterioogy to evolve serum for typhoid diptheria locla' cholera and infaptile paralysis may not also find rum to destroy the greatest of all human scourges