Message to the Senate Transmitting, in Response to Senate Resolution of January 2, 1913, a Memorandum of the Secretary of State Submitting a Report by the Consul General at Berlin Relative to the Friedmann Cure for Tuberculosis

To the Senate of the United States:

I transmit herewith a memorandum of the Secretary of State, inclosing a report prepared by the consul general at Berlin in regard to the Friedmann cure for tuberculosis.

The report is sent in reply to a resolution of the Senate in January 2, 1913, by which I am requested to submit to the Senate the results of any investigation of the Friedmann cure made or being made by the American consul general in Germany or any other officer of the United States.

WM. H. TAFT.

The White House, January 16, 1913.

Secretary Knox's letter of submittal follows:

To the President: The undersigned, the Secretary of State, has the honor to lay before the President, in accordance with a resolution of the Senate of the United States of January 2, 1913, a copy of a dispatch from the consul general at Berlin, Germany, transmitting a report in regard to the Friedmann cure for tuberculosis.

P. C. Knox, Secretary of State.

January 15, 1913.

Report on the Friedmann Cure for Tuberculosis

American Consulate General,
Berlin, Germany, December 31, 1912.

The Secretary of State, Washington, D. C.:

Sir: On November 6th last Dr. Friedrich Franz Friedmann, of Berlin, in a lecture delivered before the Berlin Medical Society (Berliner medizinische Gesellschaft) announced that he has discovered a remedy for tuberculosis. The treatment consists in the injection of a solution prepared by the doctor himself, which he claims contains living nonvirulent bacilli taken from cold-blooded animals in contradistinction to the virulent organisms contained in Koch's Tuber-kulin and other tuberculosis remedies. Up to November 18th last Dr. Friedmann claims to have treated 1,182 cases, mostly children, and that the inoculation has proved a success.

In the discussions which followed the lecture some of the most prominent Berlin physicians expressed their surprise at the favorable results obtained by Dr. Friedmann in his treatment of their tuberculosis patients. Other doctors claimed that equally favorable results have been obtained by the Koch and other tuberculosis cures. It is the consensus of opinion of the Berlin medical profession that the results of the new treatment can not be definitely acknowledged till facilities have been offered to the various physicians to observe the effects of the preparation under their own administrations and then only after sufficient time has elapsed to determine whether or not the cures or the instances of amelioration of the condition of the patient are permanent. Owing to the comparatively short period which has elapsed since the new treatment has been tried fears have been expressed lest the nonvirulent organisms when injected into the human system may become virulent and cause an outbreak of the disease.

Dr. Friedmann has stated that at present the new preparation can not be given to the medical profession at large, as he has not the proper facilities for the manufacture of the remedy, but as soon as possible the solution will be furnished to medical experts to enable them to administer the cure to their own patients.

In answer to a request for information made recently by this consulate general, Dr. Friedmann replied as follows:

My remedy for the time being has not yet been given out to any one. For the present, patients will be treated only under my personal direction in my Institute for Tuberculosis and Scrofulosis at 49 Lutzowstrasse. Berlin. I am unable to say just yet how soon my remedy will be available in America.

My institute is not a hospital, but room and board may be had elsewhere in Berlin at usual prices by those who come for treatment.

It is impossible to give an estimate of length of time necessary for treatment without examination. Where cases are not too far advanced treatment usually covers a period of several weeks.

The following is an opinion of the new remedy given by one of the local physicians:

In November of this year Dr. Friedmann delivered a lecture to the Berlin Medical Association in which he announced that he had discovered a new preparation for the treatment of tuberculosis. In his lecture he stated that the new remedy would not only cure cases of tuberculosis which were already well defined, but also that he could prevent the disease by inoculation, especially in small children. There already exists up to the present time various preparations which we call "sera," by the injection of which tuberculosis has been fought. The first serum was made by the celebrated Robert Koch and consisted of dead tuberculosis bacilli. The other preparations which have appeared since were also obtained by the emulsion of dead tuberculosis bacilli. The preparation of Dr. Friedmann consists of living nonvirulent bacilli taken from cold-blooded animals, such as turtles; that is to say, of living tuberculosis bacilli which have lost their virulence or poisonous quality if injected into the human body.

Friedmann claimed that he has treated many hundred cases by himself and with the assistance of several Berlin physicians and has had a great success. The cases which he presented to the Berlin Medical Association showed, indeed, a great improvement, but that the cures are permanent can only be determined in the future. It is certain that similar success has been obtained with other preparations, therefore it is very difficult to give a definite opinion as to the new discovery; first, because Dr. Friedmann does not specify the method by which his preparation is made, and, secondly, because he has not given his material to other doctors to enable them to prove his statements. In all events, the medical profession is very skeptical in regard to this cure, as Friedmann uses living or even weakened tuberculosis bacilli, and nobody can state with certainty at this time that these bacilli, if injected into the human body, do not become virulent. My opinion is as follows:

It is very possible that successful results have actually been obtained by the use of the Friedmann preparation, but. before the results can be accepted as definite by the medical profession at Urge, it will be necessary to have an experience with the preparation for several years by other doctors besides Dr. Friedmann. Under the present conditions I, as well as many other doctors, would abstain from treatment with the new preparation.

Copies of the Berliner Klinische Wochenschrift are forwarded as annexes to this report. In No. 47, of Nov. 18, 1912, on pages 2214 to 2217, the lectures of Dr. Friedmann are given in the original text, and on pages 2241 to 2246 the discussion which followed the lecture. In No. 49, of Dec. 2, 1912, on pages 2329 to 2335, the discussion is concluded.

A. M. Thackara, American Consul General.