The Cadaver's Lessons

🔗 Check out all our links, sources, and socials:https://linktr.ee/thecadaverslessons

In the 1950s, researchers traveled to Puerto Rico to test Enovid, the first birth control pill. Their work would help revolutionize reproductive healthcare, but the women who made this medical breakthrough possible were never fully informed of the risks they were taking.

In this episode of The Cadaver’s Lessons, we investigate the controversial Puerto Rico trials, where women experienced severe side effects, dozens dropped out, and three deaths went uninvestigated. Researchers dismissed many of their complaints as psychological, raising troubling questions about medical ethics, informed consent, and whose suffering gets taken seriously in the name of scientific progress.

We explore the island’s history of population control and sterilization, the circumstances that made Puerto Rico a testing ground, and the women who participated in hopes of gaining greater control over their reproductive lives. We also examine how the trials contributed to a medical revolution—and how later tragedies helped reshape the rules governing human experimentation.

📚 References 

1. American Experience. The Puerto Rico Pill Trials. PBS.
2. American Experience. The Pill and Informed Consent. PBS.
3. History.com Editors. The birth control pill’s controversial history in Puerto Rico. HISTORY.
4. The Harvard Crimson. The Bitter Pill. September 28, 2017.
5. The Scientist. Birth of the Pill: 1956–1960.
6. Wikipedia contributors. Edris Rice-Wray Carson. Wikipedia.
7. Wikipedia contributors. Contraceptive trials in Puerto Rico. Wikipedia.
8. The Embryo Project Encyclopedia. Enovid: First Hormonal Birth Control Pill, 1957–1988. Arizona State University.
9. Facts and ideas from anywhere.. National Library of Medicine.

🔗 Check out all our links, sources, and socials: https://linktr.ee/thecadaverslessons

What if one tiny pill could change the course of history—but the story behind it was far from a miracle?

Before the birth control pill, preventing pregnancy was often unreliable, dangerous, or inaccessible. Then came a groundbreaking scientific discovery, a women’s rights movement, millions of dollars, and a medication that transformed reproductive freedom forever.

📚 References 

1. Mayo Clinic. Choosing a birth control pill.
2. Reproductive Health Access Project. Contraceptive pearl: Understanding the differences between combined and progestin-only oral contraceptives.
3. The Royal Women's Hospital. Contraceptive pills.
4. StatPearls Publishing. Oral contraceptive pills. In: StatPearls. StatPearls Publishing.
5. Rosenberg M. Weight change with oral contraceptive use and during the menstrual cycle: results of daily measurements. Contraception. 1998;58(6):345-349. doi:10.1016/S0010-7824(98)00127-9.
6. Hormonal contraception and mood disorders. Aust Prescr. 2022;45(3):75-79. doi:10.18773/austprescr.2022.025.
7. American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists. What you should know about breakthrough bleeding with birth control.
8. Article in the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology.
9. National Cancer Institute. Oral contraceptives and cancer risk.
10. UCSF Center for Reproductive Health. The normal menstrual cycle.
11. PBS. The Pill: A timeline. American Experience.
12. Half a century of the oral contraceptive pill: Historical review and view to the future.
13. Gandhi AB, Supe PA. Evolution of oral contraceptive pills. J Obstet Gynaecol India. 2024;74(2):109-112. doi:10.1007/s13224-024-01988-4. Full text.
14. EBSCO Research Starters. The first American birth control clinic opens.
15. PBS. Gregory Pincus (1903–1967). American Experience.
16. The Harvard Crimson. The bitter pill. September 28, 2017.

🔗 Check out all our links, sources, and socials: https://linktr.ee/thecadaverslessons

For thousands of years, cultures across the world have shared some version of a terrifying idea: a person's gaze could cause harm. The evil eye is traditionally associated with envy, jealousy, admiration, resentment, beauty, wealth, fertility, healthy children, livestock, crops, and good fortune.

But the evil eye isn't simply an ancient version of a curse.

In this episode of The Cadaver's Files, we explore the history of the evil eye and the much bigger question behind it: why have humans been so afraid of being seen?

📚 References 

1. Allison DC Jr. The eye is the lamp of the body (Matthew 6.22–23=Luke 11.34–36). New Testament Studies. 1987;33(1):61-83. Cambridge University Press
2. Gomes FB. Iron Age glass eye beads in southern Portugal (7th–2nd centuries BCE). Trabajos de Prehistoria. 2023;80(2):e17. Trabajos de Prehistoria
3. Bible Gateway. Evil Eye. Encyclopedia of the Bible. Bible Gateway: Evil Eye
4. Bible Gateway. Matthew 6:23; Deuteronomy 15:9; Proverbs 23:6. Holy Bible. English Standard Version; New International Version; King James Version. Bible Gateway: Biblical Passages
5. Sefaria. Bava Metzia 84a:11. The William Davidson Talmud. Sefaria: Bava Metzia 84a:11
6. Kohler K, Blau L. Evil Eye. In: Jewish Encyclopedia. 1906. Jewish Encyclopedia: Evil Eye
7. Elliott JH. Beware the Evil Eye. Volume 3, The Bible and Related Sources: The Evil Eye in the Bible and the Ancient World. Eugene, OR: Cascade Books; 2016. National Library of Israel catalog record
8. Blaisdell A, Vindal Ødegaard C. Losing fat, gaining treatments: the use of biomedicine as a cure for folk illnesses in the Andes. J Ethnobiol Ethnomed. 2014;10:52. PubMed Central full text
9. Tilford N. Evil Eye. Oxford Bibliographies in Biblical Studies. Oxford University Press; 2014. Oxford Academic
10. Parker A. The phallus and the evil eye: phallic amulets in the Roman world. Ancient World Magazine. December 7, 2021. Ancient World Magazine
11. Israel National News. Israel National News article
12. Turkish Textbook. Nazar: the evil eye in Turkish culture. Turkish Textbook: Nazar
13. The Minds Journal. Egg cleanse ritual to release the evil eye. The Minds Journal

🔗 Check out all our links, sources, and socials: https://linktr.ee/thecadaverslessons

What happens when the treatment for cloudy vision involves stabbing a needle into the eye and pushing the lens out of the way?

Cataracts may be common today, but treating them has a wild history. In this episode, we’re tracing cataract surgery from ancient couching—where surgeons displaced the cloudy lens into the back of the eye—to the development of actual lens extraction, artificial intraocular lenses, and modern phacoemulsification.

We’ll break down what a cataract actually is, why the lens becomes cloudy, and how the eye turns light into the visual experience we know as “seeing.” Then we’ll get into the medical innovations that transformed cataract surgery.

📚 References

1. MedCrave — The Pathophysiology of Cataract and Major Interventions to Retard Its Progression: A Mini Review Read article
2. EntoKey — Epidemiology, Pathophysiology, Causes, Morphology, and Visual Effects of Cataract Read article
3. Waterloo Eye Institute — Cataract Surgery Steps Read article
4. University of Iowa EyeRounds — Cataract for Medical Students Read tutorial
5. PubMed Central — Cataract surgery research Read article
6. PubMed Central — Jacques Daviel Performed the First Documented Planned Primary Cataract Extraction on Sep. 18, 1750 Read article
7. National Eye Institute — NEI Charts a Clearer Future for Cataract Prevention and Treatment Read article
8. American Academy of Ophthalmology — Choosing the Best Artificial Lens Implant (IOL) for Cataract Surgery Read article
9. PubMed Central — Cataract research Read article
10. PubMed Central — Cataract research Read article
11. National Institutes of Health — NIH-Led Studies Point to Potential Development of Cataract Drug Read article
12. International Journal of Health and Health Sciences — Cataract research Read article
13. London Cataract Centre — History of Cataract Surgery Read article

🔗 Check out all our links, sources, and socials:https://linktr.ee/thecadaverslessons

What happens when an Indigenous leader is forced to navigate a world that is actively dismantling his people’s land, culture, religion, and way of life?

Meet Quanah Parker, one of the most influential Comanche leaders of the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

Before reservation life, the Comanche were highly mobile horsemen and buffalo hunters whose territory—Comancheria—stretched across much of the Southern Plains. But disease, declining buffalo herds, military campaigns, settlement, and the loss of territory fundamentally disrupted Comanche life.

After the Red River War, Quanah and the remaining Quahadi Comanche surrendered in 1875 and were relocated to the Kiowa-Comanche-Apache reservation surrounding Fort Sill.

And Quanah made a choice that surprised many: instead of continuing armed resistance, he became an intermediary between the Comanche and the federal government.

Quanah Parker's story doesn't fit neatly into a simple narrative of resistance versus assimilation. He operated within a system that was actively attempting to reshape Comanche society, while also using that system to protect his people, maintain economic influence, and preserve elements of Comanche identity.

And that makes his relationship with peyote particularly interesting.

For Quanah, peyote wasn't simply a drug. It was connected to healing, spirituality, cultural identity, and religious practice at a time when Indigenous traditions were being actively suppressed.

📚 References 

1. U.S. Department of the Interior, Bureau of Indian Affairs. Court of Indian Offenses. Indian Affairs.
2. National Park Service. The Dawes Act. National Park Service; 2021.
3. Library of Congress. Reservations and Allotments. Native American Spaces.
4. Wishart DJ, ed. Parker, Quanah (ca. 1852–1911). Encyclopedia of the Great Plains. University of Nebraska–Lincoln.
5. National Park Service. Comanche. Fort Davis National Historic Site.
6. National Park Service. Quanah Parker. National Park Service.
7. Texas State Historical Association. Parker, Quanah. Handbook of Texas.
8. Comanche Nation. History. Comanche Nation, Oklahoma.
9. History.com Editors. Indian Reservations: Map, US & Definition. HISTORY.
10. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Disparities and Resilience Among American Indian and Alaska Native Women Who Are Pregnant or Postpartum. HEAR HER Campaign.
11. March of Dimes. Infant Mortality Rates by Race/Ethnicity: United States, 2021–2023 Average. PeriStats.

🔗 Check out all our links, sources, and socials: https://linktr.ee/thecadaverslessons

A tiny, spineless cactus with a history thousands of years in the making.

In this episode of The Cadaver’s Lessons, we’re diving into peyote—a plant that has been used by Indigenous communities as a sacrament, medicine, and part of deeply meaningful spiritual traditions long before Western science ever studied it.

We’ll trace peyote from its Indigenous origins through colonization, the rise of the Native American Church, and the moment Western scientists isolated mescaline, the psychedelic compound responsible for many of peyote’s effects.

Then we’re getting into the science: How does mescaline actually alter perception? Why can the experience last 10–12 hours? What happens when it interacts with serotonin receptors? And what does mescaline poisoning look like in the ED?

We’ll also explore the complicated history of psychedelics in psychiatry, including the early use of mescaline as a model for psychosis and its role in studying consciousness and hallucinations.

And finally, we’re asking what happens when an ancient Indigenous sacrament becomes the subject of modern pharmaceutical research.

Because peyote isn't simply a drug.

It is sacred, culturally significant, and ecologically vulnerable—and its slow growth creates an uncomfortable question:

What happens if medical interest in mescaline becomes so successful that it threatens the plant itself?

📚 References 

1. Doesburg-van Kleffens M, et al. Molecules. 2023;28(24):7942. [PMC10746114]
2. Dinis-Oliveira RJ, et al. Curr Mol Pharmacol. 2019;12(3):184-194. [PMC6864602]
3. J Ethnopharmacol. 2005. [ScienceDirect article]
4. QPS. “From Cultural Rite to Clinical Trial: Examining the Therapeutic Potential of Mescaline.” 2022.
5. Vamvakopoulou IA, et al. Neuropharmacology. 2023;222:109294.
6. US Dept of Justice. Peyote Exemption for Native American Church. 1981.
7. Uthaug MV, et al. J Psychopharmacol. 2022;36(3):309-320.
8. American Indian Religious Freedom Act Amendments of 1994. Pub L No. 103-344. 1994.
9. Jay M. “The Encounter That Introduced Peyote to Western Science.” Chacruna. 2019.
10. Bush L. “Louis Lewin and Peyote.” Jewish Currents. 2016.
11. Der Meskalinrausch. Wikipedia.
12. MindMed. “MindMed Announces the Approval of Mescaline Study.” BioSpace. 2021.
13. Journey Colab. Journey Colab.
14. Biomind Labs. “Biomind Labs to Commence Commercial Clinical Trial on Its Proprietary Mescaline Candidate BMND06.” Business Wire. 2022.
15. XPhyto Therapeutics. “XPhyto Adds Mescaline Production to Psychedelic Medicine Programs.” 2021.

🔗 Check out all our links, sources, and socials:https://linktr.ee/thecadaverslessons

What if the man known as the “father of modern gynecology” built his reputation by experimenting on women who had no meaningful legal right to say no?

In the 1840s, physician James Marion Sims began operating on enslaved Black women suffering from obstetric fistulas—devastating childbirth injuries that could leave women leaking urine or feces through the vagina for years.

Sims performed operation after operation, changing his instruments, techniques, positioning, and sutures in an attempt to develop a successful repair. One woman, Anarcha, reportedly endured approximately 30 operations before Sims achieved a successful repair.

His work would eventually transform gynecologic surgery.

But what happens when medical progress is built on people who couldn't truly consent?

📚 References 

1. Holland B. The “father of modern gynecology” performed shocking experiments on enslaved women. HISTORY. Published August 29, 2017. Updated December 3, 2025. Accessed September 24, 2026. https://www.history.com/articles/the-father-of-modern-gynecology-performed-shocking-experiments-on-slaves
2. Shende P, Jagtap A, Goswami B. The legacy of James Marion Sims: history revisited. Cureus. 2024;16(9):e69484. doi:10.7759/cureus.69484.
3. Wall LL. The medical ethics of Dr J Marion Sims: a fresh look at the historical record. J Med Ethics. 2006;32(6):346-350. doi:10.1136/jme.2005.012559.
4. New-York Historical Society. Anarcha, Betsy, and Lucy: the mothers of modern gynecology. Women & the American Story. Accessed September 24, 2026. Women & the American Story
5. Hill MA. The stain of slavery on the Black women's body and the development gynecology: historical trauma of a Black women's body. The Macksey Journal. 2020;1(1):Article 86. The Macksey Journal article
6. Domonoske C. “Father of gynecology,” who experimented on slaves, no longer on pedestal in NYC. NPR. Published April 17, 2018. Accessed September 24, 2026. NPR report
7. Martin M. J.C. Hallman discusses Say Anarcha, a book about experiments on enslaved women. NPR. Published July 28, 2023. Accessed September 24, 2026. NPR interview

Labor pain was considered natural, necessary, and sometimes even a test of faith. But when anesthesia entered the delivery room, it sparked a massive debate: Was pain relief during childbirth a medical breakthrough—or somehow wrong?

In this episode of The Cadaver’s Lessons, we’re tracing the surprisingly dramatic history of obstetric anesthesia, from ancient herbs and opium to ether, chloroform, “twilight sleep,” and eventually the epidural.

And then we get into the science behind the needle in your back. 🫣

We’re talking about:
🩸 Where labor pain actually comes from—and why it changes throughout labor
🧠 Visceral vs. somatic pain and the nerves responsible for each
💨 Nitrous oxide, opioids, spinal anesthesia, epidurals, and general anesthesia
👑 Queen Victoria and the royal birth that helped change public attitudes toward pain relief
😵‍💫 The controversial “twilight sleep” movement—and why forgetting pain isn't necessarily the same as not experiencing it
💉 How we went from early spinal anesthesia to the modern epidural
🧬 What an epidural is actually doing to your nervous system
⚡ Epidural vs. spinal vs. combined spinal-epidural vs. dural puncture epidural
👶 How different forms of anesthesia affect—or don't significantly affect—the baby
🚨 Why general anesthesia is particularly challenging in pregnancy
🤰 Whether getting an epidural actually increases your chance of a C-section
🩺 Why epidurals sometimes fail or become one-sided
…and why an epidural definitely does NOT mean someone is being “paralyzed.”

Then, in our Ethics Autopsy, we ask:

When does calling something “natural” become a justification for withholding treatment?

And perhaps the bigger question:

Why have we historically expected women to prove something by enduring childbirth pain that we would immediately treat in almost any other medical setting?

Class is in session. 🩻

The Cadaver’s Lessons
History of medicine → modern medicine → the weird, messy stuff in between.

🔗 Check out all our links, sources, and socials: https://linktr.ee/thecadaverslessons

📚 References

• NYSORA. Obstetric Regional Anesthesia.
• American Society of Anesthesiologists / PMC. Obstetric anesthesia review.
• AMA Journal of Ethics. The Influence of Social Values on Obstetric Anesthesia.
• Journal of Obstetric, Gynecologic & Neonatal Nursing. Obstetric anesthesia and childbirth pain.
• Arizona State University Embryo Project. Twilight Sleep.
• PMC. History and development of obstetric anesthesia.
• American Family Physician. Pain Management in Labor.
• PMC. Historical perspectives on obstetric anesthesia.

🔗 Check out all our links, sources, and socials:https://linktr.ee/thecadaverslessons

What if one of the most remarkable surgeons in British military history lived under a carefully guarded identity for 56 years?

Born Margaret Anne Bulkley in 1789, James Barry became a physician, military surgeon, and one of the earliest doctors associated with a successful Caesarean section in which both mother and child survived.

But Barry’s story goes far beyond the mystery surrounding his identity.

From improving sanitation and water systems to advocating for soldiers, prisoners, enslaved people, and other underserved populations, Barry repeatedly challenged the medical establishment—and the people in power.

He was also famously difficult, confrontational, and quick-tempered. He fought duels, challenged military officials, and even crossed paths with Florence Nightingale.

Then, after Barry’s death in 1865, a startling claim about his biological sex became public.

So who was James Barry? Why did he live as a man for more than five decades? Could Barry have been intersex? And why has the mystery surrounding his identity often overshadowed his remarkable medical career?

In this episode, we dig into the life, medicine, controversies, and enduring mystery of Dr. James Barry.

Trigger warning: This episode discusses historical sexual assault, pregnancy, childbirth, death, and gender identity.

🩺 Class is in session. Stay curious.

📚 References 

1. James Barry (surgeon). Wikipedia. Updated 2026. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Barry_(surgeon)
2. Holland B. The extraordinary secret life of Dr. James Barry. HISTORY. Published March 24, 2017. History.com article
3. Queen's University Belfast. [James Barry educational resource/PDF]. Queen's University Belfast. Queen's University Belfast PDF
4. Medical Times and Gazette. 1865;[volume/page information from digitized archive]. Internet Archive. Internet Archive—Medical Times and Gazette
5. University of Edinburgh, College of Medicine and Veterinary Medicine. James Barry. University of Edinburgh. University of Edinburgh—James Barry

🔗 Check out all our links, sources, and socials:https://linktr.ee/thecadaverslessons

What if one of the most common surgeries in modern medicine was once essentially a death sentence?

A C-section means cutting through the abdomen, through the uterus, and into the place where a baby has been growing for nine months. But how did we go from ancient myths and desperate last-resort surgeries to more than a million C-sections performed in the US every year?

We’re traveling from ancient mythology and Julius Caesar to 16th-century kitchen tables, anesthesia, antisepsis, and the surgical innovations that transformed childbirth.

📚 References 

1. Sung S, Mikes BA, Martingano DJ, Mahdy H. Cesarean delivery. In: StatPearls. StatPearls Publishing; updated December 7, 2024. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK546707/
2. Mitchell B, Vaughn S, Veluri S. The history of the cesarean section. Academic Medicine & Surgery. Published September 1, 2024. doi:10.62186/001c.123289
3. American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists. Cesarean birth. Updated May 2022. https://www.acog.org/womens-health/faqs/cesarean-birth
4. National Library of Medicine. Cesarean section—A brief history: Part 2. National Institutes of Health. Reviewed February 25, 2026. https://www.nlm.nih.gov/exhibition/cesarean/part2.html
5. American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists. Management of genital herpes in pregnancy. ACOG Practice Bulletin. https://www.acog.org/clinical/clinical-guidance/practice-bulletin/articles/2020/05/management-of-genital-herpes-in-pregnancy
6. PubMed. PMID: 8458172. National Library of Medicine. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/8458172/
7. NCBI Bookshelf. NBK507844. National Library of Medicine. Accessed September 13, 2026. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK507844/
8. Wikipedia contributors. Jesse Bennett. Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jesse_Bennett
9. Carrino F. 100 years since the introduction of the Kerr technique. Presented at: University College Cork; 2026. https://www.ucc.ie/en/media/research/nationalperinatalepidemiologycentre/conference2026/Carrino_Francesca100yearssincetheintroductionoftheKerrtechnique.pdf
10. NCBI Bookshelf. NBK493238. National Library of Medicine. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK493238/