Medic

Dr. Konrad Styner:
Our presentation tonight, the field of pediatric otolaryngology, the science of the ears, nose, and throat. The object in point, a homemade rag doll. The case in point, Patricia Jeanette Dunbar. Her story has its beginning more than five years ago. At the time, Patty Dunbar was scarcely six months old. She swallowed, or was made to swallow, a quantity of lye. No one's certain how it happened, but it's conceded that it was not a childhood accident. A child of six months usually cannot administer to itself. But the point of the story is not the possible commission of a crime. But the presentation of an actual medical case, how it was treated, and how it was finally resolved.

Dr. Konrad Styner:
Our actual case history tonight concerns the field of psychiatry, the science of mental disorders. The object in point, a crucifix. The case in point, Frances A. Dunbar. She's 30 years old, married, she's given birth to three children. But for Frances Dunbar, the fourth arrival seems to be an exception. Even before its birth, there's a dispute in the mother's mind. Finally, the strange paths of a distorted and disorganized mental process lead Frances Dunbar to a bizarre and frightening conclusion. Her unborn child must die. It has to be destroyed.

Dr. Konrad Styner:
Considering the funds available to them and the shortage of staff personnel, state mental hospitals are doing a remarkable job. But their task is made needlessly more difficult by public prejudice. There is nothing about mental illness to be ashamed of, and it cannot be cured except by the skill of specially trained doctors. And thanks to those doctors whose lives are devoted to healing the mentally ill, thousands of men and women have been able to return to their rightful place in society, happy, well-adjusted, and unafraid.

Dr. Konrad Styner:
An epileptic is not insane, nor is he evil as men have imagined in the past. He is possessed of a disability as logically explainable as a lame leg. But the stigma of fear lives on, a reminder of man's superstitious past. This the doctor must treat, as well as the epilepsy. The practice of medicine does not stop with the administration of a pill or the use of a knife. It must also immunize against ignorance, intolerance, and superstition. These, too, are forms of sickness, and the practice of medicine is directed toward health.

Dr. Konrad Styner:
You have witnessed the treatment of the disease in its acute form. Actually, few polio victims suffer permanent disability. An extremely small percentage die. Although to date there is no cure, poliomyelitis will eventually be conquered. For any needless death represents defeat to a profession dedicated to life.

Dr. Konrad Styner:
Our actual case history tonight concerns the field of laryncology - the science of the human throat and larynx. The object in point, a piece of sheet music, public domain. The case in point, Daniel James Castle, age 29. The past 10 years of his life have been devoted to building a successful career for himself as a singer. His efforts and his talent have not been in vain. Fortune has finally started to turn his way, and Daniel Castle is only a few steps from the threshold of success. But there are those who have met Danny on the ladder of theatrical endeavor, coming and going. And virtually every one of them remembers him with bitterness and a strange, violent distaste. For most singers, the top is a long way off. But finally and at last, Danny senses his goal immediately ahead of him. The big time, the big money.

Dr. William Stewart Halstead:
[Addresses bedraggled colleagues] It is my considered opinion that cocaine is a habit-forming drug. Recall the past four or five weekends. Why have they been so depressing? Why? All week long, we feel fine. Then the weekends come along, Saturday and Sunday. We feel low, depressed - can't wait until we get back to work. There's not one of us who has any interest that lies outside of this room. Why? It's not the work that's driving us any more - it's the drug. We proved one thing more about cocaine than we intended. It's a drug of addiction. And gentlemen, we have become addicts!

Dr. Konrad Styner:
Our presentation tonight, the field of physiology. The scientific study of tuberculosis. The object in point, a roll of celluloid. Case in point, Jerome R. Colton, M.D., age 33, married, two children. A resident in internal medicine, Jerome Colton has just four months of duty at the hospital remaining before he opens his own office. But there's one thing standing in his way - a short, rod-shaped, acid-fast micro-organism. It could kill him.

Dr. Konrad Styner:
Our actual case history tonight concerns one aspect of legal medicine. The object in point, a baby's pillow. The case in point, Dr. Charles Bowden. Dr. Bowden is somewhat different from most doctors. Although he practices medicine, he treats no one, he cures no one, and he pays official calls only to the dead.

Dr. Konrad Styner:
Our actual case history tonight concerns the field of medical jurisprudence. The object in point - a summons. The case in point - Maude Parrish. She's 46 years old, a housewife. For most of her adult life, she's lived quietly, submissively. She never complained, never rebelled, seldom asserted herself. For Maude Parrish, life was little more than a dull succession of days, a kind of monotony that somehow had to be tolerated. To her, it became a way of life. Then suddenly, unwillingly, she found herself a central figure in a situation of high drama. For the first time in her life, her words became important to others. But when they were needed most, those words would not come.

Dr. Konrad Styner:
Our actual case history tonight concerns an affliction that has inspired dread among the human race for six thousand years. The object in point, a military citation awarded for valor at Anzio, Italy, 1944. Case in point, the recipient of that citation, Allan Connolly. Born August 17, 1919 to missionary parents in the Philippine Islands, where he spent his childhood years. In 1933, he moved to the United States with his parents. He died April 3, 1951. He returned to the living May 12, 1955.

Dr. Konrad Styner:
Our actual case history tonight concerns the field of internal medicine. The object in point, a death certificate. The case in point, Laurie Marie Allen. Nineteen years old, young, beautiful, alive. Out to make a mark for herself in the world of show business. Strong-willed, she was well prepared to gain the ultimate end - stardom. Everyone and everything was working in her favor until the very last moment, and then fate stepped in. And Laurie Allen's dream of glory turned, retreated, and gradually then suddenly vanished into the indefinite world from whence it came. For as dusk settled over a chill late September afternoon in the City of New York in the year of 1947, death came to Laurie Allen, one of he decade's most promising young ballerinas. Everyone knew the cause of her death. It was published fact, there was no question about it. But one man refused, still refuses, to accept the simple wording on the death certificate. His name is Joseph Bailey, feature writer for a New York City daily paper. From the moment he stood in the funeral parlor and viewed the mortal remains of Laurie Allen, the question kept recurring in his mind - Why was she dead, what was the real answer?

Dr. Konrad Styner:
The object in point, a woman's glove. The case in point, Margaret Ross Lambert. She's 31 years old, married, mother of two children. Her husband's a highly successful industrial engineer. She has just about everything a woman could ask for - material possessions, the love of her husband, the love of her two children. And she returns that affection, but not in equal measure. For the greatest love in the life of Margaret Lambert lies elsewhere.

Dr. Konrad Styner:
Our presentation tonight, the field of internal medicine. The object in point, a picture of a professional fighter. It's a typical photograph used for publicity purposes. It may reflect the fighter's glory, sometimes his past. The case in point, Daniel Francis Ortega. He's 18 years of age, both parents are dead. He lives with his sister and her husband. Danny likes to draw. He wants to be a commercial artist. To raise money for his education he works at two jobs, professional prizefighting and ushering at an all-night movie theater downtown. Life hasn't been generous with Danny, but he faces the future with confidence and courage. Within 48 hours, that courage will be tested to the breaking point.

Dr. Konrad Styner:
The object in point, a microscopic cross-section of a neuron. A nerve cell. The case in point, Frank Elwin Sommers. He's 49 years of age, married, and a father. A newspaperman for 30 years, Sommers is the night editor of a metropolitan morning paper. He's a careful, systematic man whose life centers around his home and his family. He takes every reasonable precaution to keep himself in good physical condition. But it's debatable that a man has much to say about his destiny. In a very short time, Frank Sommers will have nothing at all to say about his.

Dr. Konrad Styner:
Tonight's story concerns an exceedingly common disease in the teenage group - acne. The object in point - an athletic trophy. The case in point - Ray Dixon, age 17.