title: Samuel Holden Parsons Lee (1772-1863): American physician, entrepreneur and selfless fighter of the 1798 Yellow Fever epidemic of New London, Connecticut.
abstract: Samuel Holden Parsons Lee practised medicine at a time when the germ theory of disease had not yet been proposed and antibiotics remained undiscovered. In 1798 he served selflessly as the only physician in town who was willing to battle the Yellow Fever outbreak of New London, Connecticut. Because he practised at the dawn of the age of patent medicine, unfortunately his name also came to be associated with medical quackery. We argue that his contributions have been grossly underestimated. He compounded and vended medications - including bilious pills and bitters - that were gold standards of the day. Moreover, one preparation for treatment of kidney stones led to his sub-specialization in this field and was met with such success that its sale continued for nearly 100 years after his death. While a talented medical man, Lee also had a knack for business, finding success in trading, whaling and real estate.
authors.affiliation: Consultant Anaesthetist, Morristown Medical Center in Morristown, New Jersey, USA.
authors.forename: James K
authors.initials: JK
authors.lastname: Mattie
authors.affiliation: Department of Anesthesiology, Perioperative and Pain Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, USA sdesai@partners.org.
authors.forename: Sukumar P
authors.initials: SP
authors.lastname: Desai
mesh_terms: D000533:Altruism; D003237:Connecticut / Q000453:epidemiology; D058872:Epidemics / Q000266:history*; D049671:History, 18th Century; D049672:History, 19th Century; D006801:Humans; D007669:Kidney Calculi / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000266:history; D004364:Pharmaceutical Preparations / Q000266:history*; D011781:Quackery / Q000266:history; D014481:United States; D015004:Yellow Fever / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000266:history*
chemical_list: D004364:Pharmaceutical Preparations
keywords: Bilious Pills; German Bitters; Lithontriptic; Samuel Holden Parsons Lee; Yellow Fever