The Miracle Cures of Doctor John Brinkley

In an era when medicine was still finding its footing, John Romulous Brinkley built an empire on impossible cures, relentless ambition, and astonishing lack of a moral compass. In a shocking display of charm and manipulation, he managed to sell his patients on a cure for diseases they didn’t even know they had, frequently involving the surgical insertion of a goats testicle into their body. His rise to fame was inspired, and for a while, his power was almost unstoppable, until one man on a crusade took it upon himself to prove otherwise.

SOURCES

Brock, Pope (2008) Charlatan: The Fraudulent Life of John Brinkley. Orion Publishing, London, UK.

Griffenhagen, George B. & Young, James (1959) Old English Patent Medicines in America. Contributions from The Museum of History and Technology: Paper 10. Smithsonian Institution, Washington D.C., USA.

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