Sicko Doctors | The Public Domain Review

“To understand why this was the case, we might take a closer look at the above-excerpted review, which uses a metaphorical doctor to evoke a real ethical question that obsessed Americans at the time: the appropriate way to relate to other people’s suffering.“

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Addendum

“The painting shows the inside of an apothecary shop. The patient is undergoing electrotherapy, which was used to treat a wide range of neurological and psychiatric disorders. The patient looks as though he is in great pain as the current is passed through his knee. The outside window of the shop is painted with the words “Medical Electricity to the Poor, GRATIS, From 8 til 10”. Gratis is a Latin word meaning ‘free’. The apothecary also offered wet cupping, a type of bloodletting. The artist of the painting is probably Edmund Bristowe (1787-1876). artist: Bristow, Edmund Place made: United Kingdom”

Credit: Oil painting of the interior of an apothecary's shop, United. Credit: Science Museum, London. Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)