Preview

Prime logo Prime members: New to Audible?
Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
Premium Plus auto-renews for $14.95/mo after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Doctor Ice Pick

By: Claire Prentice
Narrated by: Chanté McCormick
Try for $0.00

$14.95/month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy for $1.99

Buy for $1.99

Pay using card ending in
By confirming your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and Amazon's Privacy Notice. Taxes where applicable.

Publisher's summary

A haunting and true short story of the lobotomist who cut a brutal swathe through the lives of thousands of vulnerable Americans from the author of Miracle at Coney Island.

In July 1952, Dr. Walter Freeman arrived at the gates of a West Virginia asylum. In his medical bag he carried two metal picks and a surgical hammer. He had invented a “cheap, easy” ten-minute lobotomy. The press described it as a miracle cure, a new frontier in psychosurgery.

That summer, in just twelve days, Freeman lobotomized 228 men, women, and children in West Virginia’s public mental hospitals. His blitzkrieg of brain surgery became known as “Operation Ice Pick,” named after the tools he wielded.

To some, the doctor was a hero, solving the crisis facing the nation’s underfunded and overcrowded psychiatric institutions. But many who watched him operate saw a dangerous risk-taker, a showman and a charlatan. This is the true story of a scientific pioneer whose misguided quest created one of the biggest tragedies in American medical history.

©2022 Claire Prentice. (P)2022 Brilliance Publishing, Inc., all rights reserved.
activate_Holiday_promo_in_buybox_DT_T2

What listeners say about Doctor Ice Pick

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    170
  • 4 Stars
    112
  • 3 Stars
    66
  • 2 Stars
    19
  • 1 Stars
    6
Performance
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    183
  • 4 Stars
    90
  • 3 Stars
    39
  • 2 Stars
    13
  • 1 Stars
    8
Story
  • 4 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    163
  • 4 Stars
    99
  • 3 Stars
    50
  • 2 Stars
    13
  • 1 Stars
    5

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

quick and interesting

narration was a little robotic at times but overall it was an excellent listen. I was surprised at how informative the story was without getting too bogged down in the details.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

WOW! What a history lesson!

Very intriguing book. Time flew by too quickly with this. It was insightful and fascinating even troubling to learn all of this horror really happened.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

A good time passer

It’s easy to listen to. I was hoping for some more details in to the asylums and patients. All in all not bad

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Thousands of people left in limbo by scam artist

I loved listening to it at double speed. Narrator spoke slowly and clearly. The book itself was repetitive as was the procedure. Pointed out necessity for objective, 3rd party assessment of results even for Nobel Prize nominees. Also emphasized role of charisma and relationship in relationships, used in this situation to mask the truth and justify the doctor's treatment to himself.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Well written and absolutely Chilling

What an intense walk through a part of “medical” history.
That one psychologically disconnected person armed with a medical degree could get political, medical, and press support to victimize thousands … in the name of ego … and political budget expediency.
A deep reminder of human beings … and how humanity is not universal among them.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

HEARTBREAKING & ALL TOO COMMON MEDICAL STORY…

A well researched and told story of a heartbreaking and all-too-common phenomenon in medicine. That this abhorrent crime was perpetrated on mental patients with genuine psychological conditions is terrible enough and to now know it was routinely and knowingly performed upon seemingly unruly children and women that refused to behave at home is heartbreaking in the extreme although unfortunately unsurprising. This maniacal, Ivy League educated physician cut a swathe of pain, death and horror through the world to feed his insatiable ego; dragging unsuspecting and trusting patients and their families (& frankly, their physicians and caretakers-at least initially) with him. Sadly this is a story we see all too often in the Western medical establishment.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

Interesting

Very interesting topic, and relatively underwhelming narration. From the beginning, it is obvious that Dr. Walter Freeman is a negative person - but neither did he portray himself as such, nor did the press of that time portray him as such. Narration of Chanté McCormick is well delivered and annunciated, but leaves no qualm to the listener that Dr. Freeman is another Dr. Mengele. Interestingly, even the author denotes that, at least in the USA, public opinion did more to eliminate lobotomies than the profession itself. The author would do well to draw parallel to Dr. Mengele, eugenics, and not only Elizabeth Holmes and opioid epidemic. Additionally, in next decade or so, we will see if a parallel to some newer developments and persons, such as Dr. Fauci is warranted.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

A Harrowing Exeriment

Interesting topic not widely known and a strong warning about accepting unproven, not properly tested or documented medical treatments. Peer review and substantial evidence is essential!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

DOCTOR ICE PICK

DOCTOR ICE PICK IS A BRUTAL AND CRYPTIC EXPLANATION OF A BYGONE MEDICAL PROCEDURE. NO ONE TALKS TO ONE ANOTHER FOR THE NECESSITY OF A LOBOTOMY BY THE MEANS OF AN ICE PICK TO THE CRANIAL CAVITY TO THIS DAY NO MATTER WHICH PRESIDENT WAS THOUGHT TO HAVE ONE. IN THIS PARTICULAR RECAPTION, THE STATE OF WEST VIRGINIA OFFERED THIS BRAIN REPLACEMENT TO MANY OF ITS CITIZENS FOR TWO HUNDRED DOLLARS EVEN. NO ONE HAS A CLUE TO IT BUT THIS.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Wow

I had no idea that this brutal procedure was done by non medical people. Absolutely crazy. People get desperate and do desperately crazy things I guess. So sad for the people that did this to loved ones thinking it would help them.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!