The Radium Girls

#1

Post by vilda » Sun, Aug 06, 2017, 11:10 PM UTC

Re: The Radium Girls

#2

Post by Tomminn » Mon, Aug 07, 2017, 3:45 AM UTC

"But the most baffling part about this story is not the fact that the general public had no idea that radium was so dangerous, but the fact that some people most certainly did. And yet, they sat back and watched as everyone around them was poisoning themselves."

Chilling. And also reminder of how people in the future might look back at those of us who sit by while our friends and family endorse the limitless power of alternative medicine.

Re: The Radium Girls

#3

Post by mchahn » Mon, Aug 07, 2017, 4:35 AM UTC

Tomminn wrote: post #2

"But the most baffling part about this story is not the fact that the general public had no idea that radium was so dangerous, but the fact that some people most certainly did. And yet, they sat back and watched as everyone around them was poisoning themselves." Chilling. And also reminder of how people in the future might look back at those of us who sit by while our friends and family endorse the limitless power of…

At least alt-meds do nothing (usually). Radiating people is actively worse.

Re: The Radium Girls

#4

Post by purplezooey » Mon, Aug 07, 2017, 5:13 AM UTC

That web site is awful. It auto-plays obnoxious video ads for pharmaceuticals, and the mute button does nothing. It also pops up to ask you to sign up for some mailing list. It seemed to reach a new level of being annoying so I didn't even get to read the article.

Re: The Radium Girls

#5

Post by Tomminn » Mon, Aug 07, 2017, 9:30 AM UTC

mchahn wrote: post #3

Tomminn wrote: post #2

"But the most baffling part about this story is not the fact that the general public had no idea that radium was so dangerous, but the fact that some people most certainly did. And yet, they sat back and watched as everyone around them was poisoning themselves." Chilling. And also reminder of how people in the future might look back at those of us who sit by while our friends and family endorse the limitless power of…

At least alt-meds do nothing (usually). Radiating people is actively worse.

Agreed. Still, when people alt-meds are a valid alternative to chemo the net effect is the same.

Re: The Radium Girls

#6

Post by tzs » Mon, Aug 07, 2017, 5:40 PM UTC

For those who want more on this, there's a recent book on this subject: "The Radium Girls: The Dark Story of America's Shining Women" by Kate Moore [1]. I don't know much about it (just happened to notice it a couple days ago while looking for something else at Barnes and Noble), but it has good reviews at Amazon.

[1] https://www.amazon.com/Radium-Girls-Story-Americas-Shining/d...