William Stewart Halsted

William Stewart Halsted
Halsted in 1922
Born(1852-09-23)September 23, 1852
New York City, U.S.
DiedSeptember 7, 1922(1922-09-07) (aged 69)
Baltimore, Maryland, U.S.
Alma materYale University
Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons
Known for
Scientific career
FieldsMedicine
InstitutionsJohns Hopkins Hospital

William Stewart Halsted, M.D. (September 23, 1852 – September 7, 1922) was an American surgeon who emphasized strict aseptic technique during surgical procedures, was an early champion of newly discovered anesthetics, and introduced several new operations, including the radical mastectomy for breast cancer. Along with William Osler (Professor of Medicine), Howard Atwood Kelly (Professor of Gynecology) and William H. Welch (Professor of Pathology), Halsted was one of the "Big Four" founding professors at the Johns Hopkins Hospital.[1][2] His operating room at Johns Hopkins Hospital is in Ward G, and was described as a small room where medical discoveries and miracles took place.[3] According to an intern who once worked in Halsted's operating room, Halsted had unique techniques, operated on the patients with great confidence and often had perfect results which astonished the interns.[3]

Throughout his professional life, he was addicted to cocaine and later also to morphine,[4][5] which were not illegal during his time. As revealed by Osler's diary, Halsted developed a high level of drug tolerance for morphine. He was "never able to reduce the amount to less than three grains daily" (approximately 200 mg).[6] Halsted's addictions resulted from experiments on the use of cocaine as an anesthetic agent that he performed on himself.[7]

  1. ^ Roberts, CS (2010). "H.L. Mencken and the four doctors: Osler, Halsted, Welch and Kelly". Baylor University Medical Center Proceedings. 23 (4): 377–88. doi:10.1080/08998280.2010.11928657. PMC 2943453. PMID 20944761.
  2. ^ "Johns Hopkins Medicine:The Four Founding Professors". Archived from the original on March 10, 2015. Retrieved December 2, 2010.
  3. ^ a b Markel, Howard (2012). An Anatomy of Addiction: Sigmund Freud, William Halsted, and the Miracle Drug, Cocaine. New York: Pantheon Books. pp. 188. ISBN 978-1400078790.
  4. ^ Zuger, A (April 26, 2010). "Traveling a Primeval Medical Landscape". The New York Times.
  5. ^ Brecher, Edward M. (1972). "Licit and Illicit Drugs, Chapter 5, 'Some eminent narcotics addicts'". Schaffer Library of Drug Policy. Retrieved February 2, 2014.
  6. ^ Markel, Howard (2011). An Anatomy of Addiction. Sigmund Freud, William Halsted, and the Miracle Drug Cocaine. Pantheon Books. p. 211.
  7. ^ Imber G: Genius on the Edge: The Bizarre Double Life of Dr. William Stewart Halsted. New York: Kaplan Publishing. ISBN 978-1-60714-627-8. OCLC 430842094