Halsted is considered the father of modern American surgery and was one of the major figures in the founding of the Johns Hopkins school of medicine. He was also a life-long cocaine and morphine addict. Surely the grounds for a fascinating story and yet, Imber fumbles his way through Halsted's life, managing to drain it of much of its drama.
Leaving aside the writing style and organization, both of which hampered this book, Halsted's story begs some important questions which Imber seems not to have considered answering: What impact does current research show Halsted's decades-long addiction would have had on his cognition and physiological function? And what safeguards has the medical profession put in place for the Halsteds of today?
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