{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2025,6,13]],"date-time":"2025-06-13T17:40:07Z","timestamp":1749836407023,"version":"3.41.0"},"reference-count":98,"publisher":"University of Toronto Press Inc. (UTPress)","issue":"1","content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Canadian Journal of Health History"],"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2025,4,1]]},"abstract":"<jats:p> Abstract. <\/jats:p><jats:p> Tonsillectomy was one of the most common surgeries in Canada in the mid-twentieth century. Tonsils received blame for many health problems, and advocates of the tonsillectomy said it was an important form of preventative medicine. However, like all surgeries, the procedure came with dangers. Only a small percentage of patients \u2013 most of whom were children \u2013 suffered injuries or died, but the large number of tonsillectomies meant that a substantial number of people experienced adverse outcomes. Plaintiffs who sued for medical malpractice faced a tort law system that made it extremely difficult to secure compensation. So long as the procedure was carried out with an ordinary level of skill and care, no compensation was typically available. This paper shows how Canadian law facilitated the use of tonsillectomy, and, in doing so, highlights the need to consider the role of judge-made law in the history of medicine. <\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3138\/cjhh.703-062024","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2025,5,29]],"date-time":"2025-05-29T15:21:31Z","timestamp":1748532091000},"page":"102-128","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["\u201cThe Massacre of the Tonsil\u201d: Tonsillectomies and Medical Malpractice in Mid-20<sup>th<\/sup>-Century Canada"],"prefix":"10.3138","volume":"42","author":[{"given":"R. Blake","family":"Brown","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"1696","reference":[{"journal-title":"Globe and Mail","first-page":"11","year":"1964","key":"r1"},{"journal-title":"Toronto Daily Star","first-page":"1","year":"1963","key":"r2"},{"issue":"2","key":"r3","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"217","DOI":"10.1017\/mdh.2018.5","volume":"62","author":"Louis Dwyer-Hemmings","year":"2018","journal-title":"Medical History"},{"key":"r4","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","DOI":"10.1515\/9780228009719","volume-title":"In the Public Good\u202f: Eugenics and Law in Ontario","author":"Koester Elizabeth C.","year":"2021"},{"key":"r5","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.3138\/cbmh.13.1.139"},{"key":"r6","unstructured":"William Osler, The Principles and Practice of Medicine (New York: D. Appleton and Co., 1892), 332\u20139."},{"key":"#cr-split#-r7.1","unstructured":"Jacalyn Duffin, History of Medicine: A Scandalously Short Introduction, 2nd ed. (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2010), 259-63"},{"key":"#cr-split#-r7.2","unstructured":"Harold Ellis, The Cambridge Illustrated History of Surgery (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2009), 73-82"},{"key":"#cr-split#-r7.3","unstructured":"Owen H. Wangensteen and Sarah D. Wangensteen, The Rise of Surgery: From Empiric Craft to Scientific Discipline (Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 1978), 275-300."},{"issue":"6","key":"r8","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"851","DOI":"10.1177\/0194599811400567","volume":"144","author":"Charaklias Napoleon","year":"2011","journal-title":"Otolaryngology\u2014Head and Neck Surgery"},{"issue":"11","key":"r9","first-page":"1026","volume":"37","year":"1904","journal-title":"Canada Lancet"},{"issue":"3","key":"r10","first-page":"321","volume":"26","author":"Fuller Chas. K.","year":"1932","journal-title":"Canadian Medical Association Journal"},{"key":"r11","unstructured":"Dwyer-Hemmings, \u201c\u2018A Wicked Operation\u2019?\u201d 221."},{"issue":"9","key":"r12","first-page":"643","volume":"36","year":"1903","journal-title":"Canada Lancet"},{"key":"r13","unstructured":"Herbert Tilley, Diseases of the Nose and Throat, 4th ed. (Toronto: Macmillian Co. of Canada, 1920), 402\u20134."},{"key":"r14","first-page":"26","author":"Addington Bruce H.","year":"1924","journal-title":"Toronto Daily Star"},{"key":"r15","first-page":"4","author":"Barton James W.","year":"1938","journal-title":"Winnipeg Tribune"},{"issue":"6","key":"r16","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1144","DOI":"10.1177\/01945998211037707","volume":"166","author":"Alrassi James","year":"2022","journal-title":"Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery"},{"key":"r17","unstructured":"Dwyer-Hemmings, \u201c\u2018A Wicked Operation\u2019?\u201d 217."},{"key":"r18","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Grob, \u201cThe Rise and Decline of Tonsillectomy in Twentieth-Century America,\u201d 383.","DOI":"10.1093\/jhmas\/jrm003"},{"key":"r19","first-page":"10","author":"Callwood June","year":"1953","journal-title":"Maclean's"},{"issue":"6","key":"r20","first-page":"459","volume":"79","author":"Wrigley F.R.H.","year":"1958","journal-title":"Canadian Medical Association Journal"},{"key":"r21","unstructured":"Jacalyn Duffin, History of Medicine: A Scandalously Short Introduction, 3rd ed. (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2021), chapter 10."},{"key":"#cr-split#-r22.1","unstructured":"\"Tonsillectomy Kills Child, 5,\" Windsor Star, 25 April 1950, 7"},{"key":"#cr-split#-r22.2","unstructured":"\"Tonsil Operation Fatal to Tot, 5, Order Inquest,\" Globe and Mail, 25 April 1950, 4."},{"issue":"9","key":"r23","first-page":"227","volume":"3","year":"1936","journal-title":"Ontario Medical Review"},{"key":"r24","first-page":"3","author":"Cahill Brian","year":"1956","journal-title":"Montreal Gazette"},{"issue":"6","key":"r25","first-page":"701","volume":"16","year":"1926","journal-title":"Canadian Medical Association Journal"},{"journal-title":"Globe and Mail","first-page":"13","year":"1945","key":"r26"},{"issue":"3","key":"r27","first-page":"427","volume":"24","author":"Blackader A.D.","year":"1931","journal-title":"Canadian Medical Association Journal"},{"issue":"4","key":"r28","first-page":"424","volume":"29","author":"Macnaughton B.F.","year":"1933","journal-title":"Canadian Medical Association Journal"},{"issue":"1","key":"r29","first-page":"80","volume":"37","author":"Howell William Boyman","year":"1937","journal-title":"Canadian Medical Association Journal"},{"key":"r30","unstructured":"\u201cDebate Operation on Quints\u2019 Tonsils,\u201d Edmonton Journal, 10 August 1938, 2. Also see \u201cQuints Tonsil Removal Not Found Necessary,\u201d Montreal Gazette, 10 August 1938, 7."},{"key":"#cr-split#-r31.1","unstructured":"\"Quints to Lose Their Tonsils and Adenoids,\" Owen Sound Daily Sun Times, 6 September 1938, 7"},{"key":"#cr-split#-r31.2","unstructured":"\"Soon all Five Can Talk About Their Operation,\" Winnipeg Tribune, 5 September 1938, 1"},{"key":"#cr-split#-r31.3","unstructured":"\"Reveal Emilie's Life in Danger in August Illness, Report Decision Quints' Tonsils Must be Removed,\" Edmonton Journal, 6 September 1938, 1"},{"key":"#cr-split#-r31.4","unstructured":"\"Emilie's Illness Told by Dafoe,\" Windsor Star, 22 November 1938, 16"},{"key":"#cr-split#-r31.5","unstructured":"\"Quint Doctor Discusses Operations,\" Calgary Herald, 22 November 1938, 13"},{"key":"#cr-split#-r31.6","unstructured":"Logan Clendening, \"Dr. Dafoe Reports on Quints' Tonsils,\" Toronto Daily Star, 1 November 1940, 13."},{"key":"r32","unstructured":"\u201cStates Removal of Quints\u2019 Tonsils is Gravely Necessary,\u201d Ottawa Evening Citizen, 8 November 1938, 1. Also see \u201cQuints\u2019 Tonsils, Adenoids Menace Health and Life, Says Toronto Specialist,\u201d Calgary Herald, 8 November 1938, 2."},{"journal-title":"Province (Vancouver)","first-page":"28","year":"1938","key":"r33"},{"key":"r34","first-page":"22","author":"Maxwell Victor","year":"1953","journal-title":"Maclean's"},{"issue":"1","key":"r35","first-page":"11","volume":"68","author":"Tremble G. Edward","year":"1953","journal-title":"Canadian Medical Association Journal"},{"key":"r36","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Grob, \u201cThe Rise and Decline of Tonsillectomy in Twentieth-Century America,\u201d 402; Avraham Kohanzadeh, Dafna Z. Somogyi, and Meryl B. Kravitz, \u201cTonsillectomy and Poliomyelitis: Development of Causality,\u201d International Journal of Pediatric Otorhinolaryngology 162 (2022): 111290, https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1016\/j.ijporl.2022.111290.","DOI":"10.1016\/j.ijporl.2022.111290"},{"journal-title":"Calgary Herald","first-page":"1","year":"1949","key":"r37"},{"key":"r38","unstructured":"Maxwell, \u201cWhat Should You Do About Tonsils?\u201d 47."},{"key":"r39","unstructured":"Tremble, \u201cThe Tonsil and Adenoid Problem,\u201d 15."},{"issue":"6","key":"r40","first-page":"483","volume":"73","year":"1955","journal-title":"Canadian Medical Association Journal"},{"key":"r41","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.3138\/cbmh.365-052019"},{"key":"r42","unstructured":"Tremble, \u201cThe Tonsil and Adenoid Problem,\u201d 10."},{"issue":"2","key":"r43","first-page":"110","volume":"77","author":"leRiche Harding","year":"1957","journal-title":"Canadian Medical Association Journal"},{"issue":"26","key":"r44","first-page":"1334","volume":"89","author":"Tonsillectomy and Adenoidectomy","year":"1963","journal-title":"Canadian Medical Association Journal"},{"key":"r45","first-page":"16","volume-title":"Tonsillectomy Becomes British Status Symbol","author":"Tonsillectomy and Adenoidectomy","year":"1335"},{"key":"#cr-split#-r46.1","unstructured":"David Wright, SickKids: The History of The Hospital for Sick Children (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2016), 187-8"},{"key":"#cr-split#-r46.2","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Judith Young, \"Changing Attitudes Towards Families of Hospitalized Children from 1935 to 1975: A Case Study,\" Journal of Advanced Nursing 17, no. 12 (1992): 1422-9.","DOI":"10.1111\/j.1365-2648.1992.tb02813.x"},{"key":"r47","volume":"14","author":"Callwood June","year":"1956","journal-title":"Maclean's"},{"issue":"2","key":"r48","first-page":"90","volume":"5","author":"Dalton G.F.","year":"1908","journal-title":"Queen's Medical Quarterly"},{"key":"r49","unstructured":"George E. Gask\u00a0and Harold W. Wilson, Surgery: A Text Book by Various Authors (Toronto: McClelland & Stewart, 1920), 737."},{"issue":"5","key":"r50","first-page":"382","volume":"14","author":"Lansdown Gilbert H.","year":"1924","journal-title":"Canadian Medical Association Journal"},{"issue":"6","key":"r51","first-page":"691","volume":"17","author":"McNally W.J.","year":"1927","journal-title":"Canadian Medical Association Journal"},{"issue":"1","key":"r52","first-page":"23","volume":"64","author":"Slater H.M.","year":"1951","journal-title":"Canadian Medical Association Journal"},{"key":"r53","unstructured":"Canadian Medical Protective Association, Annual Report, 1943 (Ottawa: CPMA, 1943), 3\u20134."},{"issue":"9","key":"r54","first-page":"691","volume":"78","author":"Tolczynski Borys","year":"1958","journal-title":"Canadian Medical Association Journal"},{"key":"r55","unstructured":"Wrigley, \u201cThe Hazards and Principles for An\u00e6sthesia for Tonsillectomy and Adenoidectomy in Children,\u201d 462."},{"key":"r56","first-page":"459","author":"Wrigley","year":"1334","journal-title":"Tonsillectomy and Adenoidectomy"},{"journal-title":"Globe and Mail","first-page":"4","year":"1942","key":"r57"},{"key":"#cr-split#-r58.1","unstructured":"William C.J. Meredith, Malpractice Liability of Doctors and Hospitals (Common Law and Quebec Law) (Toronto: Carswell, 1956), 62-85"},{"key":"#cr-split#-r58.2","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"R. Blake Brown, \"'Architects' mistakes should be covered with ivy and doctors' with sod': Medical Malpractice, Morton Shulman, and the 'Conspiracy of Silence,\" Canadian Historical Review 102, no. 2 (2021): 255-78.","DOI":"10.3138\/chr-2019-0036"},{"key":"r59","first-page":"7","volume":"5","year":"1933","journal-title":"Windsor Star"},{"key":"r60","unstructured":"McNamara v. Smith\u00a0. [1934] 2 Dominion Law Reports [D.L.R.] 417; \u201c5,000 for Loss of Taste Asked,\u201d Windsor Star, 8 September 1933, 5."},{"key":"r61","first-page":"15","volume":"2","author":"McNamara v. Smith","year":"1934","journal-title":"Windsor Star"},{"journal-title":"Winnipeg Tribune","first-page":"1","year":"1947","key":"r62"},{"journal-title":"Winnipeg Tribune","first-page":"13","year":"1948","key":"r63"},{"key":"r64","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Dale Brawn, The Court of Queen's Bench of Manitoba 1870-1950: A Biographical History (Toronto: University of Toronto Press and the Osgoode Society, 2006), 342\u20136.","DOI":"10.3138\/9781442627192"},{"volume-title":"4 D.L.R. 458 at para 6","year":"1948","author":"Anderson v. Chasney","key":"r65"},{"volume-title":"4 D.L.R. 458 at para 11","year":"1948","author":"Anderson v. Chasney","key":"r66"},{"volume-title":"4 D.L.R. 458 at para 11","year":"1948","author":"Anderson v. Chasney","key":"r67"},{"volume-title":"4 D.L.R. 458 at para 15","year":"1948","author":"Anderson v. Chasney","key":"r68"},{"volume-title":"4 D.L.R. 458 at para 16","year":"1948","author":"Anderson v. Chasney","key":"r69"},{"volume-title":"57 Manitoba Reports 343 at 351","year":"1949","author":"Anderson v. Chasney","key":"r70"},{"volume-title":"57 Manitoba Reports 343 at 352","year":"1949","author":"Anderson v. Chasney","key":"r71"},{"volume-title":"57 Manitoba Reports 343 at 359","year":"1949","author":"Anderson v. Chasney","key":"r72"},{"volume-title":"57 Manitoba Reports 343 at 370","year":"1949","author":"Anderson v. Chasney","key":"r73"},{"key":"r74","first-page":"6","author":"Chasney v. Anderson","year":"1950","journal-title":"Vancouver Sun"},{"issue":"6","key":"r75","first-page":"577","volume":"59","author":"Fisher T.L.","year":"1948","journal-title":"Canadian Medical Association Journal"},{"key":"#cr-split#-r76.1","unstructured":"Canadian Medical Protective Association, Annual Report, 1949 (Ottawa: CMPA, 1949), 11-12"},{"key":"#cr-split#-r76.2","unstructured":"Canadian Medical Protective Association, Annual Report, 1950 (Ottawa: CMPA, 1950), 11."},{"issue":"4","key":"r77","first-page":"405","volume":"63","author":"Fisher T.L.","year":"1950","journal-title":"Canadian Medical Association Journal"},{"key":"r78","unstructured":"Fisher, \u201cMedical-Legal: Responsibility for Sponges in Tonsillectomies,\u201d 406."},{"issue":"2","key":"r79","first-page":"166","volume":"64","author":"Fisher T.L.","year":"1951","journal-title":"Canadian Medical Association Journal"},{"key":"r80","unstructured":"Crits\u00a0and Crits v. Sylvester\u00a0. [1955] 3 D.L.R. 181; \u201cBoy, Doctors in Hospital Burned,\u201d Brantford Expositor, 6 February 1952, 11; \u201cSuit Involves Hospital Blast,\u201d Windsor Star, 20 January 1955, 12; \u201cDismiss Damage Claim in Operating Room Case,\u201d Brantford Expositor, 24 February 1955, 28."},{"key":"r81","unstructured":"Crits\u00a0and Crits v. Sylvester\u00a0. [1956] 1 D.L.R. (2d) 502."},{"journal-title":"Ottawa Citizen","first-page":"35","year":"1955","key":"r82"},{"key":"r83","volume-title":"Supreme Court","volume":"991","author":"Crits","year":"1956"},{"key":"r84","unstructured":"These statistics are drawn from Dominion Bureau of Statistics, Surgical Procedures and Treatments, 1968 (Ottawa: Information Canada, 1971), 52; Statistics Canada, Surgical Procedures and Treatments, 1973 (Ottawa: Statistics Canada, 1976), 44; Statistics Canada, Surgical Procedures and Treatments, 1978 (Ottawa: Minister of Supply and Services, 1982), 60; Statistics Canada, Surgical Procedures and Treatments, 1983-84, 1984-85 (Ottawa: Statistics Canada, 1985?), 90. Also see \u201cFewer Tonsillectomies,\u201d Globe and Mail, 13 May 1972, 33; Leone Kirkwood, \u201cDoctor Urges Less Criticism, More Study on Tonsillectomies,\u201d Globe and Mail, 11 October 1973, W7."},{"volume-title":"Surgical Procedures and Treatments","year":"1968","author":"Dominion Bureau of Statistics","key":"r85"},{"journal-title":"Ottawa Citizen","first-page":"1","year":"1964","key":"r86"},{"journal-title":"The Province","first-page":"6","year":"1972","key":"r87"}],"container-title":["Canadian Journal of Health History"],"original-title":[],"language":"en","link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/utppublishing.com\/doi\/pdf\/10.3138\/cjhh.703-062024","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2025,6,13]],"date-time":"2025-06-13T17:16:31Z","timestamp":1749834991000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/utppublishing.com\/doi\/10.3138\/cjhh.703-062024"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2025,4,1]]},"references-count":98,"journal-issue":{"issue":"1","published-print":{"date-parts":[[2025,4,1]]}},"alternative-id":["10.3138\/cjhh.703-062024"],"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3138\/cjhh.703-062024","relation":{},"ISSN":["2816-6469","2816-6477"],"issn-type":[{"type":"print","value":"2816-6469"},{"type":"electronic","value":"2816-6477"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2025,4,1]]}}}