The Rocky Road To Recovery
In early 1886 Dr. Halsted attempted to cure himself of the addiction to cocaine by taking a trip on a sailboat to the Winward Islands. The intent was to bring no cocaine with him, but instead he packed half of what he felt he would need. Once he ran out, he broke into the captain’s quarters and stole cocaine from him.
By the end of 1886, he had been admitted to the Butler Hospital in Rhode Island under the name William Stewart to be treated for his addiction. The cure, of course, was morphine, which led to more addiction over time.
Upon release, he joined William Welch in Baltimore to conduct research in Welch’s experimental lab. Working with anatomist Franklin mall, the two found a new way to suture the intestinal tract. Originally, it was accepted that the sutures would be put into the thicker muscular lair, but they found that the submucosal layer worked significantly better. During a talk at Harvard Medical School, he showed his findings on fresh dog intestine in which he sutured the layer and pulled it as hard as he could, showing that they would hold.
His return to form would not last though, as he returned to Butler Hospital from March 1887 to December to try to recover from his new addiction.