Strange medical tales – part 2

TV doctor and full-time writer Dr Michael O’Donnell, draws from his new book, Medicine’s Strangest Cases, to show how early private practitioners had to ‘own’ their patients.

A MOMENT OF TRUTH, BATH, 1781

Doctors who specialise in diseases of the rich learn early in their careers that a sound private practice needs an adequate supply of regular patients.

Medical emergencies and exotica may provide for luxury – the Bentley, the opera, the Caribbean winter holiday – but a sufficiency of regular patients protects practitioners from the relentless tyranny of household bills.