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Harold Klawans is my favorite neurologist, whose biography I find fascinating. Oliver Sacks may be known more widely, not least because many of his tales have been adapted into films, plays, and even an opera. However, his perspective tends to be more on the navel-gazing side than the analytic.
Klawans was among the first to use L-dopa for the treatment of Parkinson’s Disease, and he specialized in movement disorders, such as Huntington’s Chorea. Like Sacks, he published collections of case studies aimed at the lay reader. Unlike Sacks, Klawans wrote a few works of mystery fiction.
I perceive important differences between anecdotes written by Klawans and Sacks. The former speaks of episodes occurring inside his medical office, yet provides a personal take on his patient’s problems. The latter comes at his topic outside the clinical setting, but reveals fewer of his own feelings and thoughts. When I read Klawans’ case studies, I sense a much closer interaction with his patients than if I were reading a story by Sacks.
My interest in malfunctioning brains probably started when I was a child, giving medication to my epileptic Sheltie; it crystallized in college as a psychology major. Here are a few titles in the MI collection that may be of interest to others who share the same predilections:
Newton’s Madness showcases many of Klawans’ patients, as well as analogous historical figures. The eponymous case study, for instance, discusses a patient with copper poisoning. The author generalizes in explaining how an overabundance of metals in the bloodstream can lead to neurological damage. Using a more famous example, he describes how Isaac Newton’s writings and actions showed every indication of mercury poisoning.
Trials of an Expert Witness: Tales of Clinical Neurology and the Law / Harold L. Klawans
Another book of case studies, this work by Klawans details occasions he spent as an expert witness for the prosecution in malpractice suits. He was not particularly popular with his colleagues for testifying against others in his profession. However, he considered himself not so much an antagonist to other doctors and hospital staff, as an advocate for patients and their families.
The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat, and Other Clinical Tales / Oliver Sacks
Klawans and Sacks differ in which part of the brain they use as a focus. Klawans’ more analytical approach is noted above. In Newton’s Madness his studies follow all different parts of the brain, but most especially the left (analytic) side. Sacks takes a more emotional tack; in this book, he focuses on the right side.
