Henry Cotton (doctor)

Henry Cotton (1876–1933) was an American psychiatrist and medical director at New Jersey State Hospital at Trenton who is known for his controversial practice of removing body parts to cure mental illness.

Early Life and Education

Henry Cotton was born in 1876 in Providence, Rhode Island. He graduated from Amherst College in 1899 and received his medical degree from Johns Hopkins University in 1902. He trained under Adolf Meyer, a prominent psychiatrist of the time.

Career

In 1907, Cotton became the medical director of the New Jersey State Hospital at Trenton. He developed a theory that mental illness was caused by hidden infections in the body and could be cured by removing the offending organs. This led to a controversial practice of surgical removal of body parts, including teeth, tonsils, and colons, in an attempt to cure mental illness. Despite criticism from the medical community, Cotton claimed a high success rate and his methods were adopted by some hospitals in the United States and the United Kingdom.

Criticism and Legacy

Cotton's methods were widely criticized and eventually discredited. His practices were exposed by a series of articles in the New York Times in the 1920s. Despite this, Cotton continued to practice until his death in 1933. His legacy is a reminder of the dangers of unchecked authority in medicine and the importance of ethical standards in psychiatric care.

See Also

• History of Psychiatry
• Medical Ethics
• Psychosurgery

References

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  Illustration from The Defective Delinquent and Insane