title: [Concepts of success in the treatment of tuberculosis in the early 20th century].
abstract: This paper deals with the social construction of medical success in various therapies used to treat tuberculosis during the first half of the 20th Century. The three main therapies discussed-Tuberculin treatment, sanatorium therapy and chest surgery-show distinctly different success patterns. For example, the success of sanatorium treatment was evaluated differently during and after treatment: during treatment, quantifiable data such as weight and body temperature were seen as indicators of health. After discharge, however, success was defined as long-term survival. On the other hand, when chest surgery was used, success meant simply that patient was able to survive the surgery itself-long-term effects and patient's survival after discharge were not addressed. Such comparisons illustrate that the definition of medical success rested as much on the dismissal of negative data as on positive empirical results.
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Condrau
mesh_terms: D049673:History, 20th Century; D018570:Risk Assessment / Q000266:history*; D013812:Therapeutics / Q000266:history*; D014376:Tuberculosis / Q000266:history*