In a recent Psychiatric Bulletin, there was a fascinating Editorial about 90 year old Dr Harold Bourne and his “fight for justice with no fear of the consequences: one man taking on the mainstream medical profession in order to stop use of a treatment that had been harming and killing people across the world for more than a quarter of a century.”
Insulin Coma Therapy was once a treatment used for severe mental conditions. It was widely used.
After I read this Editorial, I made a short film about this extraordinary story.
To play this short film please click here or on the image above.
Here is Dr Harold Bourne:
And here is the start of his Lancet Editorial “The Insulin Myth” written when he was a junior doctor:
In the latest British Journal of Psychiatry (December 2014), 60 years on from his “Insulin Myth” Editorial, Dr Harold Bourne is again in print:
It was this letter by Dr Harold Bourne that inspired me to write this blog-post. It led me to question the “due deference” that has been part of the medical training. The risk here is that medical colleagues prioritise professional beliefs over patient experience.
Credit:
The content of this post is based on the Editorial “Dr Bourne’s identity – credit where credit’s due” which was written by Dr Jonathan Pimm
Footnote:
In this clip, Professor Sir Simon Wessely ‘spins’ the institutional history of Insulin Coma Therapy and omits to mention Dr Harold Bourne. It would be worrying if evidence based medicine relied on the past being so mutable.1984
Professor Sir Simon Wessely on Insulin Coma Therapy:
To play this short clip please click here or on the image above