Page 3 - Demo

Vintage Postcards of Indiana Health FacilitiesHealthcare in IndianaEarly medical equipment included leeches andlances for bleeding the patient.As was often the case on America%u2019s frontier, healers in the early Indiana Territory were either native American medicine men or pioneer women who had learned folk remedies from their mothers. Likely, the first professional physicians in the area were Army doctors stationed at Vincennes and Fort Ouiatenon during the 1700s. No matter their education, or professional background, these doctors were expected to deal with maladies such as a bacterial infection known as autumnal fever. Often a fatal condition, a severe wave of it caused the deaths of 72 Indianapolis citizens in 1821%u2014about an 1/8 of the population. Another common, and often fatal, illness was milk sickness, which took the life of Abraham Lincoln%u2019s mother. It%u2019s cause was drinking milk from cows that had eaten white snake root. Other serious afflictions included black tongue (a bacterial skin infection), dysentery, whooping cough, and scarlet fever. Of course, in those days, medical equipment was minimal. Perhaps a doctor would carry a mortar and pestle, some bandages, a bedpan, and maybe a stethoscope in his saddlebag. Beyond prescribing roots, herbs, and barks, %u201cheroic medical treatments%u201d included bleeding, purging, blistering, cupping, and leeches. Fees for treatments were low, especially when compared to today%u2019s high cost of medical care. At the time, legal tender and personal wealth were hard to come by, yet the buying power of a penny was surprisingly substantial, even into the early 20th century. One source from around 1900 listed a tooth extraction for 25 cents, two doses of jalap (a cathartic) for 50 cents, an ounce of paregoric (camphorated tincture of opium) for 621/2 cents, and 20 mercurial pills were priced at $1.50. Mercury was often used for treating some sexually transmitted diseases. The Beginning of Professionalism While no less (or more) helpful than %u201creal%u201d doctors, there were legions of untrained practitioners hawking alcohol-laden patent medicines and secret-formula nostrums. In order to combat these quacks and their money-making potions, the First District Medical Society was organized in Vincennes in June of 1817, and a month later, a second society was organized in Jeffersonville. Surprisingly, it took thirty-two more years%u2014until June 6, 1849%u2014for the Indiana State Medical Society to be founded in Indianapolis through the efforts of 28 prominent physicians. The very next day, the association grew to 84 members, and within eight years, the membership had climbed to 353. Of the Society%u2019s first 5 presidents,