"Facing the Truth" "Halt!" "Where are you going?" "To Aarhus with a sick young man and his parents." "That's in order." "Carry on!" "Hello, I'm Richard Malmros." "Johannes lversen ..." "This is my son, Karl." "He's been taken ill." "We were out fishing." " On the North Sea yesterday." "He suddenly got a violent headache." "It took 20 hours to reach port." "Now his left arm and leg are weak." "Did he lose consciousness?" " No." "His blood pressure is 160 over 1 10." "His pulse, 84." "Hello, Karl." "How are you feeling?" "Where does it hurt?" "My head." "Whereabouts on your head?" " Here." "His neck is stiff." "They did a lumbar puncture in Ringkøbing." "There was blood in the spinal fluid." "Karl, bare your teeth." "Both sides!" "I'm afraid Karl has had a stroke." " ls it dangerous?" "Can it kill him?" "Strokes can be dangerous." " Can't you give him an operation?" "Yes ... we can." "But we'll have to find out where he's bleeding from." "I'm sure Karl will make it." "He's a strong young man." "We'll have to use a local anaesthetic so we can see how he's feeling." "Would you like to sit down?" "Would you like a cup of coffee?" "Thorotrast?" " Yes." "Just 20 ml." "Karl, we need to X-ray your head." "So I'm going to inject a contrast medium ... it won't hurt badly." "Try to keep still." "Are we ready?" "Riber?" " Yes." "Now!" "Now!" "Now!" "This is from the front." "This is from the side before the contrast medium." "Now the contrast medium shows all the blood vessels." "Well, Riber, can you see the site of the haemorrhage?" "That's not normal." "The little bulge is an aneurysm." "That's where he bled from." "Will surgery be possible?" "Yes, if we can get a ligature round its neck and tie it off." "What are his chances?" " 50 per cent." "And if we don't do anything?" "And just leave him?" "He'll probably have another stroke sooner or later." "He'd be unlikely to survive it." "Karl, how are you feeling?" "Are you awake?" "Yes." "Shall we see if the local is working?" "Scalpel ..." "Can you feel this, Karl?" "... Fine." "We'll begin." "Riber, hold this." "Dandy." "Tape!" "Rugine." "Drill!" "Drill ..." " We're going to drill a hole or two." "You won't feel it but it'll be a bit noisy." "Start!" "Mummy!" "Mummy!" "This will be a bit noisy, too, Karl." "But it won't take long ..." "The handle ... come on ..." "Support his head, please." "Lion forceps ..." "Long narrow cloth." "Long narrow spatula!" "Dissector!" "Make sure you don't pull the temporal lobe too hard." "The white is the optic nerve." "Anatomical tweezers." "Damned well keep quiet!" "Pull out the left hand spatula again." "Give me the dissector again." "We can just see the neck of the aneurysm." "Scissors ..." "Now, Karl, keep perfectly still." "Can you?" "Yes." "Ligature tweezers, left hand." "Ligature tweezers, right hand." "Suck, Riber, suck, suck, suck!" "Damn!" "I believe the ligature is still in place." "Yes, it is." "Right, remove the suction tube." "Curved scissors ..." "Right, Karl, how are you feeling?" "Can you hear us?" "Karl?" "I don't like your un-Christian cussing." "It went well." "Karl had an aneurysm, a bulge in the wall of a blood vessel." "We've shut it off." "We hope his paralysis will go away soon." "Jolly good." "Ah, you monkey!" "Damn ..." "The case before Division 3 of the High Court this day 7.9. 1986   is Mrs Karen lversen, widow, v. Århus County Hospital." "It is correct that in 1944 Karl lversen was examined   using the radioactive chemical, Thorotrast." "It is overwhelmingly probable that it caused his liver cancer." "However, at the time an examination using Thorotrast   was the usual and essential procedure for any patient   who had indisputably suffered a cerebral haemorrhage   and was in mortal danger." "The Medico-legal council   has had two questions put to it in this regard." "Were there any warnings in the 1930s and 1940s   against the use of Thorotrast?" "And at the time   was there an alternative, harmless chemical   they could have used instead?" "The Medico-legal Council answers both questions in the negative." "There were no warnings and no alternative." "On this basis we urge the court to dismiss these proceedings   as the hospital staff did nothing to incur any liability." "Hi, Mum." " lt's good you've come." "He just won't stop reproaching himself." "He sits with all those old files but he can't read them   and I can't help him." "What about his reading machine?" " lt's far too slow." "20 ml ... right." "So what does it say there?" "The patient received 28 ml of Thorotrast." "28 ml ..." "Dad, why is this so important to you?" "You were acquitted." "Of course we were acquitted." "But were there cases where we could have acted differently?" "Every time we saved a patient's life   we sowed the seeds of a cancer." "Since 1947 l've been waiting for the tumours to emerge ..." "What happened in 1947?" " A new contrast medium appeared." "Since then nobody's been given Thorotrast." "Aren't you the reporter from the Ritzau news agency?" "Yes." "Knoblau?" " Yes." "Jon Knoblau." "And you've reported on medical issues before?" "Yes, I wrote about the haemophilia scandal." "I am a junior at the National Board of Health." "My card." "Yes?" "Do you know any of the Medical-legal Council experts?" "Yes." "Frank Riber." "A neurosurgeon at the Bispebjerg if he hasn't retired." "Did he use to work in Århus?" "I don't know." "But it'd be easy to check." "Yes ... and Svend Bjerre?" "Yes, he's Professor of Radiology in Århus." "And Peter Bondesen?" "Former chair of the Danish Cancer Society." "And he used to be a pathologist at Århus County Hospital." "Did he?" " Yes, he did." "Enjoy your lunch." "Dad, all the patients who were given Thorotrast ..." "What would have happened if you hadn't used it?" "We wouldn't have been able to perform surgery." "And?" " They would have died." "Of their haemorrhages, tumours, or whatever was wrong." "That's why I don't understand you." "You had no choice." "No." "But in every single case I was the one who decided." "With what we know today, in some cases I might have acted differently." "That's why I must review all these old files." "This woman ... we operated on her in 1945." "What was the indication?" " Where does it say?" "There's always an indication for an operation ... in red." "Cave iodine ..." " No, the indication!" "In red!" "I don't think the pages are in numerical order." "That's the damned thing about it." "I can't see a thing." "Dad, if you want my help you'll have to speak nicely to me." "You'd rather have that than Bourgogne?" "I know it's a cheap wine." "But I don't like being diddled." "You are being diddled." "They chuck all kinds of things in." "It costs 1 7 kroner." "Don't waste expensive wines on me!" "It tastes like communion wine." " And I was going to be a priest." "Why didn't you?" " Because ... lt was Aunt Johanne who wanted me to be one." "Anyway, I didn't." " Did you two meet at high school?" "At Esbjerg Latin School." "Dad'd been to the county junior." "In Denmark Street." " l remember the first day." "From the corridor I heard a class singing." ""The morning cockerel crows again Beats his dewy wings ..."" "It was so lovely that all at once I knew I was a happy child." "Isn't that odd?" "That as a child you can be aware that you're happy?" "Richard!" "Richard!" "Richard!" "You must be out by two o'clock." "It'll be hard to make it by then." "By 3 o'clock?" "Everything must be out by then." "Tage Vendelbo, aged 66." "From Skørping." "He had a fossia media glioblastoma." "Was he a restaurateur?" " No, a hotelier." "I remember him." "He couldn't have radical surgery." "He was given 35 ml of Thorotrast." " That tumour killed him quickly." "Put him on the left." "Grethe Wedell, 28 years old. lkast." "Parasagital meningioma ... 22 ml Thorotrast." "Discharged." "Check up 3 months later." "In good health." "Right!" "Put her on the left hand pile." "Hello?" "Jon Knoblau here." "The reporter." "We spoke in the High Court canteen." "I looked things up in the medical register and you were quite right." "Frank Riber was at Århus from 1944 to 1951   before being made a consultant at the Bispebjerg." "So the entire Medico-legal Council   was either employed under Malmros or at the same hospital." "They must have known him professionally and in private." "The term "conflict of interest" springs to mind." "Yes." "I assume that what I'm about to tell you is off the record." "Of course." "Since 1949 a secret record has been kept   of any patient given Thorotrast." "The patients have not been informed." "They are ... so to speak ... being followed to the grave." "So far c.300 of the 1 100 given Thorotrast have died of cancer." "So the National Board of Health doesn't want it getting out." "There'd be a scandal of monstrous proportions." "Where should I look?" " The record is a problem of access." "But I hear that it's not quite true that no warnings were given." "Check out medical periodicals and textbooks from those days." "Ask Frank Riber if he might have conflicting interests." "Your mother was never firm in her faith, Richard." "May 1916" "Mum says grace." "It's not enough." "A body must profess her faith." "And she doesn't." "She's too proud." "And your father could come to chapel." "And your big brothers." " l go to Sunday school." "Do you say your prayers?" " Yes." "Then pray that your mother may find the way back to the fold." "Richard, you are the salt of the earth." "Hope Laundry" "The pastor's laundry." "That'll be 1 .05." "Use the back steps." " The cellar door was locked." "Just a moment." "Oh, it's you, Richard?" "You've brought my collars?" "Splendid." "Pastor Bork?" " Yes?" "Why does my aunt say I'm the salt of the earth?" "What is salt, Richard?" "What do we use it for?" "Putting on our eggs." " Yes. lt enhances taste." "But there is a greater purpose." "It keeps our food fresh." " Yes." "We use salt to keep corruption at bay." "Sin and corruption do not exist where there is salt." "So your aunt means that you must be the preserving salt   that keeps sin at bay." "We'll have to move the bed." "It can go over in the corner." "Put the mattresses onto the beds." "And now the cupboard." "Richard, come over here." "Why did you hide?" "Because some boys from school came by." "Richard, undeserved poverty is no shame." "With the port blockaded by the war your father can't find work." "But living in a cellar ..." " Only till we find something better." "We'll manage." "Richard, would you straighten mine out for me?" "Richard, why have you moved?" "Why have you moved?" "Granddad couldn't manage the stairs." "Did the bailiff take any furniture?" " What is it to you?" "I care about Richard telling lies." " Don't ask him, then." "7 x 1 7 ... 1 4 x 8." "Are Otto's answers correct?" "Richard?" "Are they correct?" "Or are there mistakes?" " 7 x 1 7 is 1 19." "And 19 x 6 is 1 1 4." "Correct them, Otto." "You can take a beer with the lads ..." "Good evening ..." " This is Richard's teacher." "He thinks Richard should transfer to the Latin School." "To make sure he gets into High School." "Richard is so gifted that he ought to do his sixth form." "So Latin School would be best." " He'll also make a good craftsman." "If we can get him apprenticed." " He is academically minded." "But it costs money." " Yes, but ..." "Yes, it does." "We have no money. I'm unemployed because of the blockade." "Have you no relatives who might help?" "Your sister?" "The laundry owner?" "I don't think so." " No ... that was all I came for." "To see if it were possible ..." "Good evening to you." "I've never been so embarrassed in my life." "Saying you can't afford to help your son   when you can afford to get drunk!" "On money from the poor box!" "If you want to join the proletariat don't come here again." "We'll manage without you." "If we buy the old wooden railway bridge we can sell it for firewood." "It'd be two months' work." "We could make at least 1000 kroner." " So you want to borrow 400?" "No." "I want you to vouch for a loan." "You won't be able to sell it till winter." "And one must not vouch for debts." " Nor deny your needy sister help." "The help you need is to strengthen your faith." "Wealth comes from fear of the Lord." "I'm not talking of wealth, Johanna, but of our daily bread." "And what does Jesus say?" ""l am the bread of life"." ""He who comes to me shall not go hungry"." "So start by praying to Jesus." "Richard?" "Go and get Miss Frölich's dirty washing." "I thought you only laundered for the faithful." "Hello, Richard." " l've come for your washing." "Just a moment ... you haven't been to dancing classes for ages." "Have you quite given it up?" " We haven't much money." "No." "The war is causing hardship." "Only black marketers do well." "But you might at least demonstrate your good posture!" "Stand up straight!" "Lift your chin!" "One foot slightly behind the other while you're waiting." "In third position." "Hands behind your back." "There!" "For you, Sir ... and a 2 øre tip." "I hope to see you again come autumn ... lf your aunt allows." " She isn't too keen." "But mum says dancing is no sin." " No." "Goodbye, Richard!" "Cheerio!" "How much d'you reckon that sub costs?" "The clockwork one?" "Can it submerge?" " Yes." "How?" " See the fin behind the propeller?" "It dives and then surfaces when it needs rewinding." "It's the kind that's blockading Esbjerg." "There's Otto!" "Snot nose!" " Look who's talking!" "Otto is a ninny!" "Otto is a stinker!" "I wouldn't mind a bike." "And you're allowed to borrow it?" "Not on Sundays." " Not Sundays?" "Who's been tearing pages out of my hymnal?" "Pages 47 and 130!" "Do you know how much it cost?" "Go upstairs!" "I'd like to look at a number of medical journals from 1930 to 1947." "I have a list." "Though devils surge forth across the world" "We fear them not at all ..." "And devils surge forth across the world ..." "How much is it?" " lt's ... 3 kroner, 28 øre." "You'd like to buy it?" "No." "Your laundry." "That'll be 35 øre." "Thank you, Richard." "I'll bring the money later." "Goodbye." "And when Cain saw that his smoke would not rise   whereas Abel's rose straight to heaven   he grew angry with the Lord and with his brother, Abel." "His countenance fell ..." "What does it mean?" "His "countenance fell"?" "He could no longer look amicably upon his brother." "He hated his brother." "I have seen boys whose countenances have fallen." "They attended this Sunday school." "They looked at me with open hearts." "But then they grew up and became apprenticed." "The lust for sin came upon them." "And when I meet them now   they avert their eyes or avoid my gaze." "Those fallen eyes ... the best of those boys has left them ..." "Hello, Richard." " Hello." "Would you like to become a priest?" "Like Pastor Bork?" "If so your aunt says she'll pay for your studies." "If you wish to study for the priesthood I'll vouch for a loan   that I shall repay the day you are ordained." "That is to say the day you become a priest." "I'd never thought of it ..." " Of course not." "Nor need you answer forthwith." "But if so, you could start at the Latin School next term." "I've brought the doctor's laundry." "That'll be 1 .82." "Thank you." "I'll fetch the dirty laundry." "I'll do a master stroke." "I'll show you a master stroke!" "Oh, no!" "I want another go!" "Here ..." " Thanks." "I've 1 .82." "And a 5 øre tip." "And your weekly wage ..." "1 .30 ... 1 .35." "Here ... and don't forget to give it to your mother." "She needs it." "And give her your tips, too." "Yes." "Aunt ... lf instead of a priest I'd rather be a doctor ... would you help me?" "Yes." "The missionaries need doctors, too." "Richard!" "Richard!" "Richard?" "Are you out with the washing?" "No, I'm off now." "Why weren't you at school today?" " My cousin's come home." "So we went picking up dog ends." " All day?" "No, just this morning." "Look how many we found!" "Want a smoke?" "Sit down and have a smoke!" "Here you go!" "They're really strong." "Listen to this one." "Cain and Abel went to mow." "Cain wanted to go." "What more do you need to know?" "Cain and Abel went to mow ..." "Cain wanted to go ..." "What more do you need to know?" "In the river there are these minnows and if you tread on them they tickle." "Tickle, tickle, tickle ..." "Tickle, tickle, tickle ..." "No, don't!" "No, don't!" "Have you earned an extra mite?" "Have you been like the salt that holds sin at bay?" "I don't know." " You don't seem very sure ..." "Have you been finding it hard not to besmirch yourself?" "How do you keep sin at bay?" "If it isn't oneself?" "You mean if somebody else is on the path of sin?" "Yes." "What does one do?" "Richard, I think you should leave that to me." "Will you tell me who it is?" "Somebody from Sunday school?" "It's Elo." "I'll teach you!" "We didn't!" "You devil!" "You sodomite!" "Vera Jensen ..." "She had a cerebral haemorrhage." "She was given 20 plus 15 ..." "that's 35 ml of Thorotrast." "But nothing was found." "She was discharged in good health." "But she had another stroke three months later and it killed her." "We couldn't find the site." "It happens sometimes." "A few never have another stroke." "If we'd known whom they'd be they'd not have had Thorotrast." "But we couldn't tell." " So she goes on the right?" "Of course." "She died." "If Aunt Johanne paid for your studies why your lifetime of debt?" "Because she tricked me." "What about those?" "We've done them." "She knew I'd never join the missionaries." "So she left all her money to the Santal Mission   and I was left a Bible ..." "and a text   that said that work was its own reward." "It was something of a shock to find myself deep in debt." ""Fear of God and thrift are their own reward."" "Meanwhile I'd got stuck in my medical studies   because I'd dreamed of being a great scientist." "This was thanks to Aunt Johanne." "She suffered from pernicious anaemia." "In those days they prescribed raw liver." "But I was sure the stomach was involved." "So I asked for permission to experiment   by removing parts of canine stomachs   to see if the dogs developed pernicious anaemia." "I'd like to conduct the experiments myself." "But of course I'd need help." " You know canine surgery?" "No, but I'd study canine anatomy and practice on dead dogs first." "Lundgaard, ever done canine surgery?" "Not on the stomach." "But I'd be happy to assist Malmros." "How long would we observe the dogs?" "Six months, with blood tests every three days or so." "Malmros sounds Swedish; are you related to the Bishop of Lund?" "No ... my grandfather came from Sweden." "What does your father do?" " He is dead." "He worked at Esbjerg docks." " Oh, an engineer, eh?" "No, he was a docker." "Right, that will do." "Where did you learn your surgery?" "As a student I've assisted many times." "But you've never performed any?" " No, not so far." "That method of laying out the pancreatic duct onto the skin ..." "Where did you acquire it?" " lt was my own idea." "is it wrong?" " No, it looks quite right." "At any rate on a dog!" "Paresis, atrophy ..." " Of course." "And something important?" "... positive Laseque." "It's no good, Richard." "You're way behind." "I'm sorry, but I can't go on studying with you." "You're holding me back." "The exams are at Christmas." "You can't do them and your dogs." "I could study from where you've got to." "It's not only that, Richard." "What, then?" "Ulla, what is it?" "I think I've fallen in love." "That's the other reason." "I'm not stupid." "I know your feelings for me." "But I can't let them decide ..." "Who is he?" " Does it matter?" "You're right." "The blood is still perfectly normal." "Three of the dogs are feeble but it isn't pernicious anaemia." "We can't justify it any more." " Just for another month?" "Seeing as we have begun, let us pursue it to the end." "Hello, Richard!" "Don't you recognize me?" "From school?" "You're the medical superintendent's daughter." "I spent a couple of years in France." "Now I'm going to read French at university." "My worst subject at school." "Isn't that funny?" "Do you often eat here?" " Now and then. lt's cheap." "The food's not even fit for dogs!" "How are you doing?" "Not very well. I should have done my finals at the end of this term." "But I've been doing canine experiments." "So when will you qualify?" " Not till next summer." "So you've plenty of time, then." "You can show me the Deer Park." "Have you never been there?" " No, nor the Bakken fairground." "If you take the beer I'll make some sandwiches." "You must come to our hall." "We have tremendous fun." "Do you know the first time we ever talked to each other?" "I was doing my first year exams at high school." "Maths, and I was hopeless." "I couldn't use log tables, even." "I asked to be allowed to go into the quad." "I spotted this tall second year fellow." ""Malmros, will you tell me how to use a log table?"" "And you gave me a course." "Remember?" "Did you pass?" " Yes." "The principal said at passing out that we'd all go up   but one of us needed to show more diligence. "lt's Eli", they all said!" "I thought it was hilarious." "Are those the sandwiches?" "I did think I had something more appetizing ..." "But the sausage is all right." "I borrowed it." "Eyes as blue as a lake in spring" "They really are quite Denmark's thing" "The sun upon the meadows casts its light" "All the way through the summer night" "Let's sing "l'm the oatfield swaying low ..."" "No! "Pick up your staff, Put on your breeches" ..." "Sing them both simultaneously!" " No, this one!" "There are girls from Regens Hall The place near Langebro" "And they make quite certain No peace you'll ever know ..." "Richard, look!" "I'm hanging a couple of blankets across the corridor." "If we leave both our doors open we'll have our own chambre separée." "Isn't it brilliant?" " Yes." "Ulla came by with a letter." "She says she can't come." "She says she has to revise." "I'm not fine enough." "What about your girlfriend from Regens Hall?" "She's a good friend." "Not a girlfriend." "Es ist eine alte Geschichte, und bleibt sie immer neue." "One of my dogs is ill." " Pernicious anaemia?" "No, 'fraid not." "What are we wearing?" "Black tie ..." "or a tuxedo if you have one." "I have a dark suit." "I'm sure it will do." "Do you want to borrow something?" "Good evening ..." "Do excuse me." "There's a ball in hall tonight." "But I'm worried about one of our dogs." "I think it's dying." " Malmros, I ... I think we should stop this experiment." "It's not getting anywhere." " No." "Are you disappointed?" "Yes ..." "Tell me, when do you qualify?" "This winter if I can make it." "If not, next summer." "I ask because of an inquiry from Mr. Busch, the consultant,   who is going to start a department of neurosurgery in Denmark." "He wants to do some experiments on monkeys." "He asked if I knew a good student who might help him." "Preferably one who could join his staff in a year's time." "I'd intended to do research." "No, Malmros." "No, you must be a surgeon." "With your touch anything else would be a waste." "It's fantastic!" "You'll get out of your deadly dull dog thingy   and become a brain surgeon!" "It's heaven sent!" "I have to do my finals first." " You have to do them anyway." "It's fantastic." "Don't you see?" "Congratulations!" "So something came of your dog experiments after all!" "Thanks." "Thank you." "I'll be off, then." " Yes?" "Why did you come?" "To tell you about the dogs." "Yes, of course." "Was that the only reason?" "No, maybe not." "In that case I think you should lie down." "Cut ... suture ..." "Well, Malmros, can you tie knots one-handed?" "No." " You need to in brain surgery." "Often there isn't enough room." "Watch ..." "Hold the tot in your right hand." "In with your index finger." "It catches the loop." "Then the other way round." "And there's our reef knot." "Otherwise the anatomy is very akin to that of a human." "The brain is immeasurably vulnerable." "Sever the tiniest blood vessel and part of the brain dies." "It's true of monkeys and it's true of human beings." "Neoplasms during animal experiments using Thorotrast." "See springs in the blue of her eyes Gushing golden as she you spies" "To everlasting joy these springs do flow" "You see but Happiness as you go." " The bill, please." "You daily amidst eternity You sense not time as it goes by" "Then you fall as if from the sky Year by year with more velocity" "Rejoice should you meet a faint glow From your childhood fair" "A moment of bliss Your father is near" "And mother is in the kitchen there." "I wouldn't mind getting married." "I said I wouldn't mind getting married." "Well ... are you quite sure?" "Yes." "1 .95, please." "Two kroner." "Keep the change." "1 .95 is excluding service." "Oh?" "How much do you want?" " 2.24." "When is it due?" " She didn't say." "But it can't be till spring." " Congratulations!" "You'll be getting married?" " Yes, before it shows." "You don't sound to pleased." " lt wasn't quite what I'd intended." "But Ulla didn't want me." "What about an abortion?" "You medics always fix things." " Out of the question." "Her father is a medical superintendent." "Can you afford to get married?" " No." "Not at all." "I'll have to do my finals in January." "But before that we must go to Esbjerg for the wedding." "You'll have plenty on your plate." " l haven't even written up the dogs." "is that necessary?" "As it went wrong?" " Went wrong?" "It merely failed to yield the expected results." "More dinner plates ..." "now we have enough for twelve!" "How wonderful!" "What have we got here?" "Isn't it a shame not to marry in white?" "I'll get more use of a two-piece." "They're all the rage." "From Peter and Silvia ..." "A white wedding dress on a menstruating bride is not romantic." "Who was the bowl from?" " Wilhelm from my hall." "Dinner is served." " How lovely!" "Shall we go in while it is still hot?" "I'll put these flowers next door." "Your mother said you had your period ..." "Yes, isn't it a bother?" "It started today." "So you're not pregnant at all?" " Pregnant?" "Did you think I was pregnant?" " Yes!" "You said you wouldn't mind getting married!" "There were cheap sheets in the sales." " So you wanted to get married?" "Yes ... but I didn't buy any." "I got some winter boots instead." "You got some winter boots?" "I don't understand you." "Are you disappointed?" "We've still time." "Not today, but another day ... is that it?" "No." "Let's go in." "Do sit down ..." "I've become quite domesticated since I retired." "Sugar?" "Cream?" " No, thanks." "Are your queries specific or more about my career in neurosurgery?" "Oh, I'd like to hear a bit about everything." "Actually I started in Sweden, where l did my residency." "Then I succeeded Malmros under Busch in Copenhagen." "And then you went to Aarhus under Malmros a year later?" "What was he like ... to work with?" "Malmros?" "He's one of the great stars of Danish brain surgery." "A fantastically accomplished surgeon with the steadiest of hands." "If a child required surgery we were always to phone him." "He always did the children?" " Yes, always." "It was a bit of a problem;" "after all, one needed the training." "How did the patients regard him?" " They worshipped him." "Hardly surprising." "If the pain is relieved   and you're given back your life   it is very easy to be grateful." "Malmros was an innovator." "And courageous; there are many operations he was the first to do." "Aneurysms, for example." "Dr. Riber, you were on the Medical-legal Council   during the Thorotrast case." "With your enthusiasm for Malmros   didn't you feel that there was a conflict of interest?" "In that regard?" "Yes ..." "But not at all as you imagine." "As much as I respected him for his professional skills   l abhor him as a man." "My years in Århus were the worst of my life." "... I don't know what you want, but I refuse to vent my spleen." "But those years are your background ..." "The war years were fine." "But in 1946 " " Malmros spent six months in America   acquiring new surgical methods." "I stood in for him." "But when he returned everything I did was wrong in his eyes." "They'll be called in for a last check up in six months' time." "A good thing that's just for fun!" "See you in six months." "Riber?" " Yes?" "Have you a moment?" " Yes ..." "Well, goodbye, then." "Thanks for all you've done." "What's going on?" "I intend to do my doctorate on the surgical treatment of epilepsy." "I've talked to the twins and their parents." "A terrible idea." "We must not mention those twins too loudly." "I completely disagree." " Possibly, but I'm the boss." "Riber, write about our aneurysm operations." "Even the Americans were impressed." "Ready!" "If you still intend to be a neurosurgeon." "Of course I do." "I'll do the acusticus neurinoma." "Riber will assist, plus Hansen." "Can't I do the acusticus neurinoma?" "Under supervision?" "You're not good enough yet." "I did two while you were away." "Copenhagen didn't have room so Busch suggested I did them." "A great deal has happened here in my absence, I gather." "Keep that damned spatula still, Hansen!" "There!" "Hold it there!" "Scissors, curved ..." "Fool!" "I'll hold it ..." " Scissors, curved." "Send it for microscopy." "Right." "Riber, close up, I'll do the rounds." "Water ..." "Tricky operations make one touchy." "I'd held it for an hour." "I got cramp." "We've all been through it." "... Dura suture!" "Perhaps I'm just not cut out for surgery." "No ... now you mention it." "Mr. Jochumsen, the examination revealed something we must remove." "If it's crap, it'll have to go." "Brain crap." "Rain crap." "It's not meant to be there." "The young doctor asked me about my dreams." "There was something I didn't like to mention with nurses present." "I don't know if it matters?" " l don't believe it does." "When did we begin filling patient files with psychiatric deliberations?" "Joachumsen has a tumour of the right frontal lobe." "So he has a fatuous mind and makes lavatory jokes." "Yes, and the condition takes this much to describe, not half a page." "He has also experienced spasms." "So I examined him with extra care." "I can't prevent you from writing about epilepsy." "But I forbid any mention of those twins." "The twins ...?" "Malmros wanted me to write about his endeavours." "But you worked together?" " Barely. lt was trench warfare." "I became an obsession to him." "In the end it was obvious that Malmros was the problem." "The chief medical officer was brought in." "I've brought Busch as a kind of umpire." "We all know that you are an exceptionally accomplished surgeon." "But your responsibilities include running your department." "I don't know Riber personally,   but Busch says he had no trouble from him." "Riber spent a year in my department before coming to Århus." "No, I had no trouble with him." "Malmros, what is the essence of your antagonism?" "One hears so many rumours." " l don't know where they come from." "But since my return from America we have not worked well together." "Why not?" "Because there has to be one head of department, like it or not." "What do you say, Riber?" "Did you find it hard to return to your place?" "No." "The problem is that I am not allowed to work independently." "Whatever you do I carry the can." " Malmros!" "Let Riber finish." "I am not permitted to practice what I have learned." "It's a question of trust." "is it some kind of sorcerer's apprentice thing?" "Yes, one might say so." "But Malmros, you are the sorcerer, don't forget that." "You must not refrain from imparting what you know to your apprentice." "I've never refused to impart anything to anyone." "You perform any surgery done on children?" "Not all of it, but most." "In which case he'll never learn." "No." "Malmros, you are responsible for this clash." "If Riber was good enough to run the department while you were away   surely he is good enough now?" "Or you couldn't have gone." "We also face another problem." "We must expand the department." "But we can't do so under these circumstances." "Malmros, have you ever considered private practice?" "Resign my position?" " Yes, you'd have to do so." "Barf ..." " Both." "Ole ... lm ..." " l." "Lotti ..." "Both ..." "Lo ..." "ior ..." " Leo." "How did it go?" "Hellishly." "The chief medical officer would rather dismiss me." "He was very well informed." " What did you say about Riber?" "I betrayed someone once as a child." "I don't wish to repeat it." "I must face the fact that the department I've built up   is being taken from me." "I could leave of my own accord ..." "You just changed her clothes round." " No!" "One of the dollies from America has lost an arm." "Stay here." "Read some more." "Wet ..." " No, "Were" ..." "Were you out wading ..." "Bathing." "O" " L ... and then?" "Ole." "It's mine." " Yours was the pink one." "You must share the dolly." " What's going on?" "Lotte says it's not her dolly whose lost an arm." "It's impossible to tell." "It's mine." " You can't have the same doll." "We'll take her to hospital." "Rikke put Lise's cardigan onto her dolly." "We're going to put her arm back on now." "What's on the slate?" " We've a dolly who's lost an arm." "We're going to operate." "But we need an X-ray first." "Shall I put in a plate?" " Yes, please." "There's the arm that's come off." "We need to get hold of this spring." "So we'll open up her back and replace the arm." "One set of instruments should do it." " l think so." "You've got to wear masks." "We must do this properly." "The operator, too." " Yes, the surgeon as well." "Why must we wear bibs?" " You have to when you operate." "Scalpel ..." "Watch ... we make an incision ..." "Scissors ..." "There ..." "Péan ..." "Now it's back on." "Suture." "With a curved needle you have to turn it around as you sew." "Remember to say "Damn!" or it won't count." "Damn!" "One knot ... another knot   and another knot, and snip ... lt was my dolly who was ill." " You two could do with some juice." "I'll be in my office." " Come with me." "Dr. Malmros ..." "Riber just came by." "He said the CMO says he's to be the new head of department." "He did?" " Yes." "How did the operation go?" " There was a knife." "And she's got sticky plaster on." " Sticky plaster?" "Look, she's got a hook in her tummy." "Indeed she has!" "We put her arm back on." "She's better now." "She needs to go to sleep in her cradle." "My dolly's been ill as well." "She also needs to sleep." "What are you doing in there?" " Nothing." "I'm popping back to the ward." "The CMO has phoned a couple of times." "Riber is to be head of department." " ls that what it was about?" "They're easing me out ... they want me to go into private practice." "As what?" "One can't have one's own practice as a brain surgeon." "Richard, whatever happens   remember you've got a wife and three children who love you." "Shan't the two of us be friends ... always?" "Shall I tell you something to be happy about?" "It's certain now." "I'm carrying twins." "Malmros speaking ... yes?" "Oh, I see." "Yes." "Yes, yes ... goodbye." "Thank you for informing me." "They've decided to expand the department." "It's to be divided into two separate sections." "Riber will run one,   l will run the other." "And I'm to be made a professor." "Yes!" "You were right." "There were loads of warnings about Thorotrast." "In Swiss, German and Danish periodicals." "But scariest of all, there was an alternative." "Per-Abrodil." "It's not radioactive and not carcinogenic." "But the Medical-legal Council said "no" to both questions." "It's a medical scandal of unprecedented proportions." "Lies and cover-ups ... they're going to wish they'd never been born." "Their umbilical cords were wound round each other's necks." "One was still-born." "The other lasted ten minutes." "Yes." "They're girls." " Yes." "Shall they share a coffin?" "Yes." "Will you put my little porcelain elephant into the coffin with them?" "Of course." "I was so much looking forward to having twins." "REACTOR in THE BOD Y Have you seen the papers?" ""A reactor in the body"." "In print so big even I can read it." "With a skull and a syringe." "Read that ..." ""lt was one of the great men of Danish brain surgery, " " Professor Richard Malmros,   who exposed the 15-year-old boy's artery   and injected the contrast medium into his brain." "That medium was Thorotrast." "33 years later the patient died   unaware that it was because of the reactor in his body"." "He writes that there is a mole in the health service   who's revealed a secret data base." "He also says there were urgent warnings about Thorotrast." "We had no choice apart from leaving our patients to die." "But the Medical-legal Council was wrong about the lack of warnings." "He writes that there was an alternative ..." "Per-Abrodil." "We got it from Nazi Germany." "But it wasn't very good." "We started using it in 1944." "March 1944 Before my clash with Riber." "Please remove your hand." " lt's agony." "No more pictures, I beg you!" "No." "We'll make do with the one X-ray." "Well done, lsaksen." "It's not a very good image, is it?" "Not nearly as clear as Thorotrast." "But we can see what's wrong with lsaksen, can't we, Riber?" "Yes, he has a tumour in the frontal lobe." "Per-Abrodil doesn't yield good images." "Patients react badly to it." "There may be acute allergic mortalities." "Nevertheless we'll use Per-Abrodil." "I'm afraid of Thorotrast." "From now on the orders are no more Thorotrast!" "No ..." "The tumour is close to the surface." "Yes, so it would be a most suitable tumour for your first operation." "We only had Per-Abrodil for 6 months." "By autumn 1944 we were running out." "The German manufacturers kept getting bombed." "The war was drawing to a close." "The Gestapo and Danish collaborators terrorized everyone." "Both of them, damn it!" "Both of them!" "No!" "No!" "Don't shoot!" "Which way shall we go in?" "From the back." "We'll remove the bullet, and then ... ls the wife dead?" " Yes. lt was sheer murder." "We're going in ..." "There are two men outside." "You can't go in there." "We're from the Gestapo." "We want to see the man who was shot." "We can't remove the drapes just like that." "He's been shot in the head, right?" " Yes." "His right temple." "May I see him?" "The patient is dying." "We can't delay surgery any more." "Surgery?" " Yes." "Scalpel ... come on ..." "Scalpel." "Rugine." "Drill ... quickly!" "Switch it on." "Take him outside for a bit of fresh air, eh?" "There must be a risk of infection." " Very much so." "He may need sulphonamide." "A 5 year old girl has been brought in with stroke symptoms." "There is blood in her spinal fluid." "... lda Torp Jensen." "Hello ..." "Ida's had a turn, I hear?" "Yes, it came on all of a sudden." "Funny noises, and then she fell over." "She's getting worse and worse." "Hello, lda." "How are you?" "Are you awake?" "I'm going to look at your eyes." "What does that mean?" "Sit down ..." "I'll fetch you a cup of coffee." "No, thanks." "Won't you stay?" "I am so frightened." "I'm going to have to move you." "We have no more Per-Abrodil." "Only Thorotrast." "I daren't give Thorotrast to a 5-year-old girl." "What, then?" " Her right side is paralysed." "So the haemorrhage is on the left." "We'll go in without an X-ray." "There is seepage but nothing on the media or the carotis." "Dissector." "Damn!" "Riber, hold this ..." "Blunt hook." "No, no aneurysm." "Let's locate the communicans anterior." "I'm sure it'll be all right." "They are very good." "Damn it, she's bleeding." "Riber, hold it there ... there!" "Dissector ..." "What's her blood pressure?" " 50 ... no measurable diastolic." "Anatomical tweezers ... I can't see a thing." "Dissector ..." " No measurable blood pressure." "Her pupils are dilated." "I'm sorry." "We lost her." "No ... no ... no." "You can't take pot luck when you're operating on the brain." "You have to know where to look." "So when the fishing boy came in   a couple of months later, I didn't dare not use Thorotrast." "You must tell people what things were like; for the patients' sake." "The press would distort anything I said." "Go to the Medical Journal." " l can't see!" "How can I write?" "Record it on tape." "I'll transcribe it for you." "It'd take ages." " lt's your duty." "From Knoblau's point of view it's medical negligence   and a cover-up by the Medical-legal Council." "Mum, I'll be off now." " Did you calm him down?" "I've certainly given him something to do." "Something occurred to me as I dictated this." "Really and truly, of course, it is what I always dreamed of." "That you and I, on equal terms, could at last talk to each other." "Our lack of dialogue was my fault." "I'd devoted too much time to work." "But it was also because I had to have control of everything I did  and what other people did." "A fine quality in a surgeon, yes." "In a head of department, even." "But not in a father." "Another thing:" "I have never been able to say thank you." "But have no doubt that I am touched  that you helped an old man to face the past." "Over 1 100 people unwittingly and without being consulted   were subjected to treatment for which they paid a terrible price." "Jon Knoblau has fought for their cause in best reporting style   and thereby earned this year's Cavling Prize." "Well done." "There's a cheque, too." "If anybody in Århus sticks together   it's the senior ranks of the medical profession." "But their smiles will have stiffened   as the mistreatment of hundreds of innocent people has come to light." "People who have been left to die of liver cancer." "It is only now that the specialist responsible   has written an article for the Medical Journal   in which he finally admits the truth:" "That there had been warnings about Thorotrast   and that there had been a harmless alternative." "So there are grounds to reopen the legal proceedings   that took the lid off this Pandora's box ..." "Malmros ..." "No, I have no comment." "In my experience whatever I say will be distorted." "Goodbye." "That's the third reporter today." "I've written a letter to the papers giving Knoblau a piece of my mind." "Mudslinging never does any good." "My article must suffice." "Knoblau professes to be crusading for the truth." "But what does he indulge in when he discovers he's mistaken?" "Distortion!" "A Cavling Prize winner who distorts the truth!" "Yes. lt may well be that we could gloat over him for now." "But next time they'd do the gloating." "This damned mole ..." "What will he find next?" "You see, there are skeletons in the cupboard." "Just not the ones they think they have found ..." "Welcome home from foreign climes ..." "What did they say When you taught them how to take" "An aneurysm by the root And shut it off?" "What did America say?" "This is a 46 year old male with a large meningioma." "The size of an egg." "I was able to remove most of it without apparent bleeding." "It looks serious ... shouldn't you have awaited my return?" "There was no urgency." " lt turned out well." "What's this?" "The same child?" "No. I understand your perplexity." "Two identical twins." "Twins with the same disorder?" " Yes. lt's most interesting." "They both have epilepsy with focal seizures of the right arm." "They're both got the same malformed blood vessels." "That may be the cause of their epilepsy." "Yes, I think you're right." "It's quite conceivable." "I removed the deformed blood vessels." "The seizures have ceased." "Well, well!" "How fascinating!" "I'd been thinking of the surgical treatment of epilepsy for my thesis   when I heard about the boys." "May I see the images again?" "Did you give them Thorotrast?" "Yes." "After all, it's all we've got." "You did a Thorotrast test because they were epileptic?" "But epilepsy is not an indication for Thorotrast!" "The whole world uses Thorotrast for all sorts of tests." "I couldn't care less about the rest of the world." "This department only uses Thorotrast for matters of life or death." "I used small doses." "They're young." "That makes it even worse. lt'll stay in their bodies all life long." "What will happen in 10, 20, 50 years' time?" "Their lives weren't at risk!" "But I've cured their seizures!" "He must have operated on 10,000 patients in his life." "My childhood was a torment thanks to his concern for his patients." "He ought to be taking it easy now." "But he's tormenting himself." ""The happy days of old age Ne'er will they return"!" "Goodbye, Mum." "I had surgery for a brain tumour in 1946   and now they say I have cancer of the liver." "They used Thorotrast?" " So it turns out." "Are you bitter?" " Yes." "I hear another chemical could have been used." "Now the hospital tells me I only have a couple of months left." "We'd have liked to talk to Professor Richard Malmros ..." "When you've forgotten the Thorotrast case there'll be another." "Before Thorotrast there were the lobotomies." "They tormented you, too." "You'll never be left in peace." "D'you know who'll never leave you in peace?" "Your aunt." "Yes." " But Richard, that's why I love you." "Imagine if we were all as cheerful and irresponsible as I!" "It'd be unbearable!" "My mother was also cheerful." "I only ever saw her cry once." "Aunt was to blame." "I got home from school to find mum crying in the cellar   because Aunt Johanne had been by with a sack of potatoes." "A sack of potatoes was the kind of alms the charities gave the poor." "Why do you hoard all these humiliations so?"