The excruciating final hours of President George Washington Health Dec 14, 2014 4:00 AM EDT
The excruciating final hours of President George Washington Health Dec 14, 2014 4:00 AM EDT George Washington was killed by medical malpractice. On December 13, 1799, George Washington showed signs of a bad cold. To cure him, doctors drained 40 percent of his blood and prescribed medicines. The medicines were actually toxic chemicals that caused throat blisters, violent vomiting, and explosive diarrhea. Washington died the next day. The former president feared being buried alive. His final instructions were, “Do not let my body be put into the vault in less than three days after I am dead.” It was a house call no physician would relish. On Dec. 14, 1799, three doctors were summoned to Mount Vernon in Fairfax County, Va., to attend to a critically ill, 67-year-old man who happened to be known as “the father of our country.” On the afternoon of Dec. 13, a little more than 30 months into his retirement, George Washington complained about a cough, a runny nose and a distinct hoars...