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The Importance of Iatrogenesis in the Founding of Modern Neonatology

Journal of Perinatology volume 24, pages 671–673 (2004)Cite this article

A Corrigendum to this article was published on 19 November 2004

There is enough interest in iatrogenesis in adult medicine today. The press echoes this, too. In the late 1950s, a new field of medicine in pediatrics began to emerge — Neonatology. The technology and information gained from research in physiology and biochemistry, pharmacology and antibacterial drugs and capability for micro-monitoring and micro-chemistry gained from aviation and space research contributed to the increased interest in the study and treatment of newborns. The infants of that time were already being looked upon as “Therapeutic Orphans” as a burst of harmful and disastrous results were being reported, not only from new drugs and technology, but from the old and accepted ones. This body of knowledge needed to be coordinated and controlled for education and research. Thus, iatrogenic observations truly served as an impetus for the cartoon, “Neonatology — A Six-Finger Exercise” in 1958, which showed the importance of thinking about iatrogenesis when looking at each sick infant along with the traditional clinical conditions, each body system and for birth defects. An appendage was tied with a suture and appropriately called pediatrica iatrogenica.

Why I did this must go back to my formative years with Dr. Wilburt C. Davison, Dean and Professor and Chairman of Pediatrics of the Duke University School of Medicine and the Medical Center, which he built and led for over a quarter century. I translated the German pediatric literature and also read and abstracted the English pediatric literature, too, for the Compleat Paediatrician which Dr. Davison wrote for eight editions. Dr. Davison was one of the last two Americans to study with Sir William Osler at Oxford and mentioned Osler daily. Osler was interested in Pediatrics, was the fourth president of the American Pediatric Society and greatly contributed to the diagnosis and understanding of many neonatal problems. My first birthday gift from my wife Faye was Osler's A Way of Life and at Christmas she gifted me with Harvey Cushing's The Life of Sir William Osler in two volumes which I read over the holidays. These books had a great influence on my life.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Pediatrics, School of Medicine, University of Louisville, KY, USA

    Billy F Andrews MD, FAAP, FACP, FRSM

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  1. Billy F Andrews MD, FAAP, FACP, FRSM
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Given in part at the 37th International Congress on the History of Medicine in Galveston, Texas, 2000.

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Andrews, B. The Importance of Iatrogenesis in the Founding of Modern Neonatology. J Perinatol 24, 671–673 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.jp.7211161

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