Battle over Leprosy

Long-dreaded leprosy is rated by top experts a hundred times less contagious than TB, and it is virtually impossible for an adult to be infected by casual contact. On these facts, the U.S. Public Health Service Hospital at Carville, La.--the national leprosarium--based its extraordinary system of allowing patients to lead near-normal lives. Under Dr. Frederick Andrew Johansen, who spent 29 years there, Carville helped a whole generation of leprosy patients to feel (psychologically, at least) like normal human beings. "Dr. Jo" let patients marry and live together, encouraged outsiders (provided they were over twelve) to come in and play golf or softball with the patients and dance with them at socials.

In 1953 Dr. Jo retired and was succeeded as director by Dr. Eddie Monroe Gordon Jr., a Health Service officer with 19 separate assignments in 28 years of service. Newcomer Gordon improved Carville's physical plant and administration, but set out to change the hospital's famed, widely admired system. He ordered the hospital staff to stop fraternizing with patients, discouraged visits by the public, upped minimum age for visitors (other than relatives) from twelve to 20. The worst blow to patients: a ban on games, sports, and dances between patients and nonpatients.

Typical of the logic of Dr. Gordon's rules was the case of a woman patient whose uninfected husband visited her regularly. She asked Gordon if she could dance with him. Gordon said no, because it was too difficult to keep track of patients and nonpatients ("We can't put blue jackets on some and yellow jackets on the others"). Complained the patient: "I can stay in bed with my husband all day--but they won't let me dance with him."

The Carville inmates decided to fight. Angry protest meetings were held. The Patients' Federation drafted a 2,500-word letter of complaint to PHS headquarters, sent a lawyer with it to Washington. Last week the patients won a clear-cut victory. PHS decided to shift Dr. Gordon, 52, to his 20th assignment.

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