Doctor Ice Pick

4 4 out of 5 stars | 1,483 ratings

Price: 1.99

Last update: 07-27-2024


About this item

A haunting and true short story of the lobotomist who cut a brutal swathe through the lives of thousands of vulnerable Americans from the author of Miracle at Coney Island.

In July 1952, Dr. Walter Freeman arrived at the gates of a West Virginia asylum. In his medical bag he carried two metal picks and a surgical hammer. He had invented a “cheap, easy” ten-minute lobotomy. The press described it as a miracle cure, a new frontier in psychosurgery.

That summer, in just twelve days, Freeman lobotomized 228 men, women, and children in West Virginia’s public mental hospitals. His blitzkrieg of brain surgery became known as “Operation Ice Pick,” named after the tools he wielded.

To some, the doctor was a hero, solving the crisis facing the nation’s underfunded and overcrowded psychiatric institutions. But many who watched him operate saw a dangerous risk-taker, a showman and a charlatan. This is the true story of a scientific pioneer whose misguided quest created one of the biggest tragedies in American medical history.


Top reviews from the United States

ASHWIN PATEL
5.0 out of 5 stars Well researched and well written
Reviewed in the United States on August 17, 2022
Ms. Prentice has successfully gone to the depth of the subject with her research and come up with a story that is a factual account of what took place e in medical field that would shock the current practitioners of the allopathy field. The story is well written and though short at 80 pages, it is a good read.
Heather
4.0 out of 5 stars Quite interesting
Reviewed in the United States on June 8, 2023
I did think this would be more of a life story type book, but it was more of a here is what this doctor did. Quite interesting and more of a history of lobotomy and the insane things, this particular doctor tried to prove himself right.
Lynn Kearsey
3.0 out of 5 stars Where have all the ice picks gone, long time passing.....
Reviewed in the United States on August 14, 2022
A factual report of how one charismatic, arrogant physician went on a wild rampage using an ice pick inserted in the corner of patients eyes to "cure" mental illness of some of the countries poorest patients and hospitals. Basing the need for this procedure to rid overcrowding and to save money, the procedure ultimately either killed or left the patients with serious physical and mental defects to which the ice pick doctor denied the scientific evidence. This doctor, akin to Dr. Frankenstein, would never admit, not even in a dying breath, that he had failed The Hypocritical Oath" all doctors take - "First, Do No Harm"
Kindle Customer
5.0 out of 5 stars Lobotomy crazy
Reviewed in the United States on January 23, 2023
Dr. Freeman thought that giving electro shock to a patient instead of using anesthesia, and then using an instrument resembling an ice pick to break thru the bone at the back of the eye (no sterilization used) and forcing that instrument into the brain itself would cure violent mentally ill patients. He also believed it was useful in curing headaches, tb, and arthritis among other ailments. Seems like in The 1940sand 1950s he was given free rein in places and did thousands of these crude procedures. When I was a child I knew a lady Who'd had a lobotomy. She had totally flat affect and was cared for by her sister. Finally America caught on that the evidence was largely against the lobotomy being a helpful way to treat patients.
Beckyrae99 (Becky Wise)
4.0 out of 5 stars Engaging
Reviewed in the United States on November 14, 2022
Doctor Ice Pick is a very engaging read. You will get plenty of Dr. Freeman and the procedure he campaigned for to help the overloaded hospitals. Thus was an interesting read.
Bobbi & Tony
5.0 out of 5 stars WOW!!
Reviewed in the United States on November 8, 2022
Everyone needs to read this! My grandma went through this exact same thing and to read about it and how it got started was enlightening.

Lobotomy needs to be outlawed! How could someone think this was a good thing?

This was such a good read, the writing was phenomenal. I will be reading more books by this author!
Christine
3.0 out of 5 stars 3.5 stars
Reviewed in the United States on July 19, 2022
A quick synopsis of the story of Walter Freeman aka The Ice Pick Doctor. I've read another more detailed book about this man but this is a relatively good summation of his life. It seems to have been researched well but it's too bad there wasn't more detail on some of the actual people who had to experience this horrible surgery.
Kindle Customer
4.0 out of 5 stars Interesting history
Reviewed in the United States on July 11, 2023
Straight forward historical take on the man behind the lobotomy. I enjoyed the journey that was brief and disturbing due to his zeal.

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