The Medical Treatment of George Washington,On December 12th, 1799 George Washington spent most of th

The Medical Treatment of George Washington,On December 12th, 1799 George Washington spent most of the day riding his horse and inspecting his plantation.  The next day, despite a sore throat, he again rode out on a snowy day to mark trees which he wanted cut.  His personal secretary, Colonel Lear, suggested that Washington take medicine, but Washington refused stating he never took medicine for a minor cold.On the night of December 14th, Washington awoke in severe respiratory distress, so much so that he could barely speak or catch his breath.  The first to attempt to treat Washington was his estate manager, one Albin Rawlins, who administered a medicinal concoction of molasses, vinegar, and butter.  When Washington tried to swallow the medicine, he had a fit of convulsions.  Seeing that Washington’s state of health was serious, Mr. Rawlins decided to resort to bloodletting, removing a half a pint of blood from the former President. His neck was then wrapped in a piece of cloth coated with a salve latola (don’t know what this is) and his feet were bathed in warm water.Word of Washington’s illness was sent to his physician, Dr. James Craik, as well as Dr. Elisha Cullen Dick and Dr. Gustavus Richard Brown.  Once arriving, Dr. Craik spread a paste made from dried beetles on Washington’s throat, then bled another 40 ounces of blood.  Another medicinal concoction of vinegar was fed to Washington, but again this led to severe coughing and convulsions.  Unable to administer the medicine, Dr. Craik bled another 40 ounces of blood from Washington. Dr. Craik then spread more beetle paste on Washington’s throat.Dr. Dick arrived later in the afternoon and bled another 32 ounces of blood from Washington.  Dr. Brown arrived shortly thereafter.  It was then that the three doctors administered an enema containing calomel, a chloride compound containing mercury, and cream of tartar. The doctors then smeared his legs with wheat bran.By evening it was becoming quite clear that Washington’s illness was rapidly progressing despite the doctors treatments.  As the infection in Washington’s throat quickly spread, swelling threatened to cut off his airway.  In a last ditch effort, Dr. Dick suggested they perform a tracheostomy to maintain Washington’s airway.  However the other physicians disagreed with his idea.As the infection worsened, Washington slowly drifted into respiratory arrest.  Finally on 10:10 PM, Washington stopped breathing and passed away. -- source link

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