Truths and Consequences: Writing the History of Disease

Abstract

"The Deadly Truth." It has the ring of a medieval mystery or a contemporary courtroom thriller. But readers expecting beach or bedtime fare will be disappointed. This is neither mystery nor thriller. Some might call it a jeremiad: a caution against medical hubris, a testimony to the limits of human agency, and a tale of the unintended consequences of the best of intentions. "The Deadly Truth" is one historian's caveat to clinicians, policy-makers, and the public: disease has been and will be with us always. And woe to the historically challenged, who persist in believing that progress in the medical sciences accounts for our longer, healthier lives and will one day relieve us of the burdens of illness. In this instance ye should have little faith.

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