You will need to log in to book media
It was hailed by the New York Times as "surgery of the soul," a groundbreaking medical procedure that promised hope to the most distressed mentally ill patients and their families. But what began as an operation of last resort was soon being performed at some fifty state asylums, often with devastating results. Little more than a decade after his rise to fame, Walter Freeman, the neurologist who championed the procedure, was decried as a moral monster, and lobotomy one of the most barbaric mistakes of modern medicine. Through interviews with Dr. Freeman's former patients and their families, his students, and medical historians, this AMERICAN EXPERIENCE production offers an unprecedented look at one of the darkest chapters in pediatric history.