Catherine Prendergast's Blog
December 31, 2021
The King of Quacks: Dr. Abrams
When George Sterling of The Gilded Edge: Two Audacious Women and the Cyanide Love Triangle That Shook America has a nervous breakdown, he runs off to Dr. Albert Abrams' clinic in San Francisco for a short stay. Dr. Abrams practiced in San Francisco in the early 20th century, and had a string of celebrity clients. He was nationally known. Think of him as a kind of precursor of Dr. Oz crossed with Elizabeth Holmes.
But he was known as the "King of Quacks." Abrams (can we dispense with the Dr. title?) invented devices to fit his theories. For example, he believed that all disease could be cured through oscillations of the spine, so he invented the OSCILLOCLAST which looked a little like transistors on top of a wooden box.
He invented another machine called the DYNAMIZER which could give a patient's complete medical history using only one drop of blood; no molecular analysis involved. He listened for reverberations in the body wired through the blood drop. He made money from leasing these devices widely.
George Sterling, networker that he was, recommended his friends to Dr. Abrams' clinic. Upton Sinclair went to him (as well as a Dr. Fletcher who had him chewing each bite of food twenty times before swallowing). But Sterling liked Abrams because he taught him a trick for massaging his liver that he thought allowed him to outdrink anyone.
Eventually the American Medical Association, perceiving that their brand was about to sustain damage, began investigating Abrams. They published the results of these investigations in the Scientific American in the early 20s, concluding that everything about Abrams was bunk. Sinclair wrote publicly in Abrams' defense.
Abrams had the good sense to die in 1924 before the full weight of public ire descended. Sterling was angry that he hadn't been left money in the will. He expected $10,000 for all those referrals.
But he was known as the "King of Quacks." Abrams (can we dispense with the Dr. title?) invented devices to fit his theories. For example, he believed that all disease could be cured through oscillations of the spine, so he invented the OSCILLOCLAST which looked a little like transistors on top of a wooden box.
He invented another machine called the DYNAMIZER which could give a patient's complete medical history using only one drop of blood; no molecular analysis involved. He listened for reverberations in the body wired through the blood drop. He made money from leasing these devices widely.
George Sterling, networker that he was, recommended his friends to Dr. Abrams' clinic. Upton Sinclair went to him (as well as a Dr. Fletcher who had him chewing each bite of food twenty times before swallowing). But Sterling liked Abrams because he taught him a trick for massaging his liver that he thought allowed him to outdrink anyone.
Eventually the American Medical Association, perceiving that their brand was about to sustain damage, began investigating Abrams. They published the results of these investigations in the Scientific American in the early 20s, concluding that everything about Abrams was bunk. Sinclair wrote publicly in Abrams' defense.
Abrams had the good sense to die in 1924 before the full weight of public ire descended. Sterling was angry that he hadn't been left money in the will. He expected $10,000 for all those referrals.
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