Ruth B. Drown

Ruth Beymer Drown (October 21, 1891 – March 13, 1965) was an American chiropractic and proponent of radionics.

Career

Drown who operated in Los Angeles was influenced by the devices of Albert Abrams.[1] She invented radio devices which she claimed could cure any patient in the world, just from blood-sampling.[2][3]

Drown's devices were investigated by the American Medical Association in 1950 at the University of Chicago with unsatisfactory results.[4][5] Science writer Martin Gardner noted that "Drown was given blood specimens from ten patients. Her diagnoses of the first three were so erroneous that she did not even attempt the remaining seven."[6] The committee stated that the devices were quackery and concluded "her alleged successes rest solely on the noncritical attitude of her followers".[7]

Drown was investigated by the California State Bureau of Food and Drug Inspection and charged with grand theft in 1963. She died before the case came to trial.[8]

Publications
  • The Science and Philosophy of the Drown Radio Therapy (1938)
  • The Theory and Technique of the Drown Radio Therapy and Radio Vision Instruments (1939)
  • Wisdom From Atlantis (1946)

References
  1. Barrett, Stephen; Knight, Gilda. (1978). The Health Robbers: How to Protect Your Money and Your Life. G. F. Stickley Company. p. 100. ISBN 978-0893130015 "Treatment by Remote Control Albert Abrams had many imitators, among them Ruth Drown, a Los Angeles chiropractor. One of her many nonsensical inventions was the Drown Radiotherapeutic Instrument."
  2. Sladek, John Thomas. (1974). The New Apocrypha: A Guide to Strange Science and Occult Beliefs. Stein and Day. p. 267. ISBN 978-0586039748
  3. Swan, Jonathan. (2003). Quack Magic: The Dubious History of Health Fads and Cures. Ebury Press. p. 187. ISBN 978-0091888091 "Ruth Drown claimed she could diagnose and treat disease with her patent devices, Drown Radio Therapy and Drown Radio Vision Instruments (also known as 'Homo-Vibra Ray Instruments). These devices were similar to those of Abrams. They tuned in to the 'vibrations' of the body, and could locate and could locate and identify not only disease, but gauge blood pressure, examine urine and sample the temperature of the patient. When her devices and technique were put to independent test, however, she failed spectacularly. She was unable to diagnose any illnesses accurately from provided blood samples of patients."
  4. Jameson, Eric. (1961). The Natural History of Quackery. Charles C. Thomas Publisher. p. 213
  5. Williams, William F. (2000). Encyclopedia of Pseudoscience: From Alien Abductions to Zone Therapy. Facts on File Inc. p. 37. ISBN 1-57958-207-9
  6. Gardner, Martin. (2012 edition, originally published in 1957). Fads and Fallacies in the Name of Science. Dover Publications. p. 209 ISBN 0-486-20394-8
  7. Planer, Felix E. (1988). Superstition. Prometheus Books. p. 271. ISBN 0-304-30691-6
  8. "The Medical Messiahs". Quackwatch.
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