Books like Charlatan by Pope Brock

John R. Brinkley began his career in the Southeast selling patent medicines that proved ineffective. In 1917 he relocated to Milford, Kansas, where he opened a medical practice and promoted an unproven surgical technique using goat glands to restore virility. His controversial claims attracted thousands of patients and made Brinkley one of America’s most prominent self‑appointed surgeons. The medical press, led by authority figure Morris Fishbein, criticised Brinkley’s practices throughout the 1920s and 1930s. Despite sustained opposition, Brinkley maintained financial success, expanded into politics by running for governor, and invested heavily in radio broadcasting, establishing a powerful transmitter near the Rio Grande to disseminate his treatments. The story chronicles the clash between Brinkley’s entrepreneurial ambition and the emerging professional standards in medicine.

First publish date: 2008