The recommendation that the United States Congress grant an annuity to the widow of Dr. Joseph Goldberger, renowned scientist and discoverer of the cure for pellagra, is made in an editorial which appeared in the New York Telegram of yesterday.
Dr. Goldberger, who died last week in Washington, was a member of the United States Public Health Service.
The editorial points out that despite his outstanding contribution to science and humanity, Dr. Goldberger died a poor man.
Under the heading “Death Comes to the Doctor,” the editorial says:
“Seven times he risked his life and that of his wife to prove that pellagra is not caused by any germ in the blood or skin or internal organs. They and loyal fellow workers allowed themselves to be injected with the blood and material of dying pellagra victims. They swallowed pellets made from the same diseased substances. Observers marked them for death, but they did not die.
“They proved their case. They had the cure for a disease that had defeated all scientific research for centuries.
“But the doctor knew this did not mean that pellagra would be eliminated or even controlled. He knew much about life. Brought to this country by immigrant parents when he was five years old, he had spent his childhood and youth amid the poverty of east side New York. He knew that fresh milk and meat were not to be bad on every table. He studied and searched for a cheap food that would prevent pellagra. He found it in yeast. He proved that a small amount of this inexpensive food fresh or fried will prevent the disease. And he made this discovery in time to save thousands of lives of Mississippi River dead victims.
“The solution of the pellagra problem was not this doctor’s only contribution to science and to humanity. In his years of work in the United States Public Health Service beginning as an inspector at Ellis Island, he worked on other diseases-yellow fever typhus, dengue, diphtheria, measles and influenza. He made many discoveries-some again at risk of his life.
“Dr. Joseph Goldberger died the other day in Washington. With his death the family income stopped. It is proposed that Congress grant a pension to the widow, the woman who aided his work and shared many of his dangers and handshins.
“Congress scarcely can refuse”
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
