title: Dr. William O. Coffee and his absorption cure for cataract.
abstract: Dr. William O. Coffee was an ophthalmologist who conducted an office and mail-order practice in the Midwest from the 1880s until 1927. His main stock in trade was a self-discovered absorption cure for a variety of ocular diseases, with particular emphasis on the medical cure of cataracts. Dr. Coffee's career was a checkered one, marked by dubious credentials, exuberant self-promotion, unlikely and exaggerated claims of medical successes, plagiarism, and rejection by the medical "establishment." Certain parallels may be drawn between his activities and some currently observed practices in ophthalmology.
authors.affiliation: Department of Ophthalmology, Medical College of Virginia of Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond 23298.
authors.forename: A P
authors.initials: AP
authors.lastname: Ferry
mesh_terms: D002386:Cataract / Q000266:history; D049673:History, 20th Century; D009885:Ophthalmology / Q000266:history; D014481:United States