Doctor uses unconventional lobotomy at Ridges

by Kim Smith
For the Post

Myths and legends surround the history of the Ridges, but one story is actually true — the tale of the psychosurgeries performed by Walter Freeman, or "Dr. Lobotomy."

Freeman performed about 200 "transorbital icepick lobotomies" at the Ridges during the 1950s, Dr. Gary Cordingley said.

Freeman, originally trained as a neurologist and psychiatrist, traveled to different mental hospitals around the United States.

While the mortality rate was low, Freeman's methods were unconventional, Cordingley said.

"Freeman would put the patient out with electro-convulsive therapy that would induce a seizure for a couple of minutes," Cordingley said. "He only needed five to10 minutes to perform the whole surgery."

Freeman's surgery involved inserting a long needle-like pick between the upper eyelid and eyeball, Cordingley said. He would use the pick to break through the skull into the brain casing. Once inside, Freeman made an up-and-down motion to sever and destroy the connection to the frontal lobe.

"He could do up to 17 patients in one afternoon," Cordingley said.

Patients who did not respond to psychotherapy could opt for a lobotomy, Cordingley said. Medication for depression or psychotics was not available yet.

"There were individuals looking for more physical treatments," he said. "One patient I saw had gotten a lobotomy from Dr. Freeman. The man had post-traumatic stress disorder, from World War II. He had a lot of fear and his doctors didn't think he'd ever be able to leave the hospital. After the operation, the patient was able to leave the hospital in three months. He thought he had made the right decision. He was able to lead a normal life."

The idea of lobotomies, or "lobe cutting," first came to Freeman while attending a London medical conference, Cordingley said.

John Fulton, a Yale neurologist, presented evidence of prefrontal lobotomies on chimpanzees. Later, Freeman read reports by a Portuguese doctor, Antonio Egas Moniz, who had successfully completed lobotomies on humans, according to The History of Lobotomies Web site (http://www.epub.org.br/cm/n02/historia/lobotomy.htm).

Freeman flew back to the United States and teamed up with James Watts, a neurosurgeon, to apply the newly invented technique in American patients, Cordingley said.

They first operated in September 1936, according The History of Lobotomies Web site.

He and Watts perfected the technique and called it the "Freeman-Watts Standard Procedure." The procedure included a precise set of guidelines for the insertion of a special wire knife, called a "leukotome." 

Watts used standard surgery techniques, but Freeman thought the process was lengthy and began operating on patients alone, Cordingley said. Freeman demonstrated his "ice-pick lobotomy" and turned Watts away.

"Freeman did a surgery solo, with Watts watching, in his office with a guy sitting in his chair," Cordingley said. "After that, Watts wouldn't have anything to do with him. He began to travel far and wide. The Athens State Hospital was the most visited in Ohio."