In 1847, Ignaz Semmelweis drastically reduced childbed fever deaths at Vienna General Hospital by ordering doctors to wash hands in chlorine. Despite clear evidence, he faced backlash due to the lack of a scientific explanation, leading to a career-defining struggle.
In 1847, Ignaz Semmelweis drastically reduced childbed fever deaths at Vienna General Hospital by having doctors wash hands in chlorine. Despite clear evidence, he faced backlash for lacking a scientific explanation, leading to a tragic end and delayed adoption of his life-saving practice.
Sen. Bernie Sanders confronted Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. at a Senate hearing over his rejection of germ theory, the scientific foundation that specific pathogens cause specific diseases. Kennedy defended his fringe view promoting terrain theory over germ theory, citing studies arguing vaccines did not significantly reduce mortality. Sen. Bill Cassidy fact-checked Kennedy by reading from the same studies Kennedy cited, showing they actually credited vaccines with eliminating deaths from diphtheria, pertussis, measles, and other vaccine-preventable diseases.
