1934 Los Angeles ME epidemic

Dr. Hyde had the opportunity to examine two physicians who had become ill during the 1934 polio epidemic outbreak at the Los Angeles (LA) County Hospital. According to Dr. Hyde’s slide, 198 healthcare workers, who were immunized with sera from recovering patients, fell ill with ME, but not polio.

He believes in this case that the combination of an immunization and viral infection triggered their ME. The two doctors sued the hospital and the city of LA and received about 2 million dollars each.

Dr. Hyde’s hypothesis is that this was a wake-up call for insurance companies to dismiss the illness and from then onward, anything resembling ME was mocked. There were times then, and even now, where ME patients were put into psychiatric hospitals and labeled as crazy (plus they were given drugs that made them sick). So, when CFS came along, it seemed to follow the same pattern. Same illness, different name, same outcome.