Harlem Hospital Study

ãIn 44 of 65 fatalities from appendicitis and in 39 of the 51 fatal cases of perforated appendicitis, cathartics [purgatives] and/or memata were used before admission to the hospital, with all patients admitted to the hospital late, i.e., beyond forty-eight hours of the onset of symptoms.ä The report, published by Doctors Aubre de L. Maynard, Robert E. Carter, and Carlton E. Ford, is a study of 1334 cases treated at Harlem Hospital in an eight year period from 1941 to 1948. While the report does not claim to be absolute proof of the effects of cathartics, or the role of local pharmacists in Îprescribingâ such treatment, it does provide an indication as to the severity of a recognized problem and possible contributing factors.