ANZ journal of surgery
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ANZ journal of surgery · Aug 2005
Biography Historical ArticleSurgical accountability in the 1880s: the death of Susan Nixon.
Susan Nixon died in 1881 following a surgical error. Her surgeon, Dr W. E. ⋯ The surgical misadventure that resulted in Mrs Nixon's death became a public scandal, which gained currency through both parliamentary debate and the popular press. The purpose of referring to this case is to explore the mechanisms of accountability that surgeons faced in the 1880s--a decade of rapid change in the practice of surgery. The response of late nineteenth century society to surgical error and the resultant reaction of the medical profession have resonances that are relevant to surgeons practising today.