Robert S. Mendelsohn

Robert S. Mendelsohn was an American pediatrician, anti-vaccinationist and critic of medical paternalism. He denounced unnecessary hysterectomies, radical mastectomies, and dangerous medications, reminding his readers of public health failures such as the 1976 swine flu outbreak and the damage caused to daughters of women who took the drug diethylstilbestrol during pregnancy. He portrayed doctors as powerful priests of a primitive religion, with dishonesty as its central ethic. His mild manner appealed to the public, while his message infuriated his medical colleagues.

Country

United States

Category

Writers

Type

Writer / Author

Status

deceased

Dates

Lived 1926 to 1988 · aged 61

Written about in

5 languages