Lobotomies. Bloodletting. Leeches. Arsenic. The usage of dubiously helpful and occasionally harmful treatments have been a mainstay of medical care since the beginning of recorded history. In many cases, these were done with the hope of a true cure, but often they were done in the guise of beneficence in order to financially benefit the so-called “snake-oil salesman.”
At the next McGoogan Library Speaker Series event, UNMC’s Lydia Kang, MD, assistant professor of internal medicine, will discuss the historical breadth of how medical treatments — both well-intentioned and not — have evolved over time, and why they are still so stubbornly alive today. Dr. Kang, a Nebraska Book Award-winning and best-selling author, will speak on the topic of “Quackery Through the Ages” at the April 29 event, to be held virtually from 12:15-1:15 p.m.
The McGoogan Library Speaker Series highlights faculty, staff and clinician authors from UNMC and Nebraska Medicine.
An author of fiction, poetry and non-fiction, Dr. Kang has gained a reputation for helping fellow writers achieve medical accuracy in fiction. Her poetry and non-fiction have been published in JAMA, The Annals of Internal Medicine, Canadian Medical Association Journal and The Journal of General Internal Medicine.
She also is the author of the young adult novels “Control,” “Catalyst,” “Toxic” and “The November Girl.” Her adult historical fiction includes the bestelling novels “A Beautiful Poison,” “The Impossible Girl,” and, most recently, “Opium and Absinthe.” Her nonfiction book, “Quackery: A Brief History of the Worst Ways to Cure Everything,” was co-written with Nate Pederson and is a NPR Science Friday best science book of 2017.
This is going to be so COOL! I'm reading her book right now, and it's endlessly fascinating, disturbing, and incredible what people believed or tried as medications.