PEDIATRIC SPINAL TAPS
Dr. Arthur Wentworth performed the first lumbar puncture in 1896 at Boston Children’s Hospital on a 2-year-old girl suspected to have meningitis. Following the lumbar puncture, the girl's test for meningitis was negative and she began showing adverse symptoms to the procedure. She was reportedly thrashing around in her bed, pulling at her hair, and wailing.
Dr. Wentworth went on to continue performing lumbar punctures on 29 other babies and young children in an attempt to prove that although children experienced pain and slight discomfort during the procedure, the procedure itself was harmless. These 29 children, however, were used as controls for his experiments. They were not sick and showed no symptoms that would indicate a necessity for a spinal tap.
Dr. Wentworth performed this procedure without providing any explanation to the parents or obtaining their consent. Dr. Wentworth believed that the importance of proving the safety of the procedure was above that of protecting the children. He performed unwarranted procedures that were potentially harmful on children who did not need them.
In 1896, after completing the spinal taps on all 30 children, Dr. Wentworth presented his results to the Suffolk County Medical Society and the American Pediatric Society. These societies encouraged his work but after publication of his research, Dr. Wentworth was faced with opposition from Dr. John Rodgers.
Dr. Rodgers explained that these procedures were purely experimental because he did not have a clinical reason to do them. He also explained that performing these experiments without telling the parents or getting their permission caused widespread fear of hospitals. During the uproar, Dr. Wentworth resigned from Harvard Medical School.
Sources:
Campbell, A.G.M. “Children as Research Subjects: Science, Ethics and Law.” October 1994.
Cooter, Roger. In the Name of the Child: Health and Welfare, 1880-1940. Routledge, 2011.
Rosenhek, Jackie. “Point Well Taken.” Doctor’s Review: Medicine on the Move (March 2010). http://www.doctorsreview.com/history/point-well-taken/.
T, E. C. “Dr. Arthur Wentworth and the First Lumbar Puncture at the Boston Children’s Hospital in 1895.” Pediatrics: Official Journal of the American Academy of Pediatrics, Vol. 62, Iss. 3 (September 1, 1978): 401.
Wentworth, Arthur. “Epidemic Cerebro-spinal Meningitis: Article XLVI.” Massachusetts Medical Society, Medical Communications (1790-1913), Vol. 17, Iss. 3 (June 7, 18 1898): 745-770
Wentworth, Arthur. “Some Experimental Work on Lumbar Puncture of the Subarachnoid Space.” Boston Medical and Surgical Journal, (August 6, 1896): 132-136