The Abraham Man: Madness, Malingering, and the Development of Medical Testimony
-
Gilbert E. D’Alonzo
The Abraham Man: Madness, Malingering, and the Development of Medical Testimony
by Lande R. Gregory DO. New York, NY: Algora Publishing; 2012. 262 pp. ISBN: 978-0-87586-936-0.
I read The Abraham Man slowly. I took my time because each page was carefully constructed and loaded with information. Each of the 9 chapters is long but designed to maintain attention, beautifully weaving case histories together to move the story forward. It wasn't long before I was hooked.
What is “the Abraham Man”? I had never heard that term before. Well, now I know: During the US Civil War, some men would fain illness or malady to avoid combat, and these men came to be known as the Abraham men. Military surgeons would try their best to distinguish between soldiers with real illnesses and those skilled actors who purported to have such maladies. From this process, the profession of psychiatry—and the development of medical testimony—evolved.
R. Gregory Lande, DO, methodically tells this story using fascinating cases as his narrative tool. I was particularly immersed in the Vanderbilt will case, in which the death of Cornelius Vanderbilt, with an estate worth $100 million left primarily to a single son, led many of Vanderbilt's kin to contest the will, claiming that the deceased was incompetent from mental illness. The story of the assassination of President James A. Garfield was also fascinating, discussing both lunacy and competency.
Dr Lande has made an important contribution to US literature. Between the history of medicine, the history of legal medicine and litigation, and innumerable stories of supposed and perhaps legitimate mental illness, many of which were accompanied by incredible drama, The Abraham Man has it all. I recommend this historically valuable book without hesitation.
© 2014 The American Osteopathic Association
This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
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Articles in the same Issue
- Health Policy
- Impact of the Single Accreditation Agreement on GME Governance and the Physician Workforce
- In My View
- Effect of the Single Accreditation System
- Letters
- The OSTEOPATHIC Trial Demonstrates Significant Improvement in Patients With Chronic Low Back Pain as Manifested by Decreased Prescription Rescue Medication Use
- Response: Observational Study Demonstrates That OMT Is Associated With Reduced Analgesic Prescribing and Fewer Missed Work Days
- A Case of Seasonal Recurrent Myopericarditis? Tough to Say!
- Response
- AOA Communication
- Official Call (Reprint)
- Proposed Amendments to the AOA Constitution, Bylaws, and Code of Ethics (Reprint)
- Original Contribution
- Association Between Cervical and Thoracic Somatic Dysfunction Among Second-Year Osteopathic Medical Students
- Brief Report
- Mountaineering-Induced Bilateral Plantar Paresthesia
- Clinical Practice
- Management of Ionizing Radiation Injuries and Illnesses, Part 3: Radiobiology and Health Effects of Ionizing Radiation
- Review
- Primary Care Evaluation and Treatment of Men With Lower Urinary Tract Symptoms
- Medical Education
- Perception-Based Effects of Clinical Exposure to Osteopathic Manipulative Treatment on First- and Second-Year Osteopathic Medical Students
- Case Report
- Osteopathic Musculoskeletal Examination and Subarachnoid Anesthetic Administration in a Patient With Severe Scoliosis
- The Somatic Connection
- Myofascial Release Increases Effectiveness in Management of Chronic Low Back Pain
- Lymphatic Pump OMT Releases Cytokines Into Central Circulation
- Patients With Magnetic Resonance Imaging–Verified Lumbar Disk Herniations Benefit From Chiropractic High-Velocity, Low-Amplitude Spinal Manipulative Therapy
- Chiropractic Treatment of Pregnant Patients Supports Reduction in Low Back Pain
- Short-Term Effects of a Manual Therapy Protocol on Pain and Functioning in Patients With Fibromyalgia
- Headaches Are a Pain in the Neck
- Clinical Images
- Leser-Trélat Sign
- Book Reviews
- Osteopathic Tales
- The Abraham Man: Madness, Malingering, and the Development of Medical Testimony
