PEDIATRICS Vol. 42 No. 4 October 1968, pp. 708-709
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An Epidemic Unchecked

A. Frederick North Jr. M.D.1

1 1111-18th Street, N.W. Washington, D.C.

A serious and largely unrecognized health problem stalks our land. Each year it kills nearly 300 children, permanently cripples an unknown number, and subjects nearly a million to hospitalization and surgery. The problem costs the nation at least $150,000,000 in direct medical costs alone.

This epidemic is not caused by a microorganism, by an environmental contaminant, nor by a genetic defect. It is caused by the failure of the medical profession to apply rational standards of safety and efficacy to one of its own well established habits.