Curing Mental and Nervous System Illnesses   <Back to Articles page.>

A Mexican doctor speaks to us about a unique procedure which he demonstrated in this country at the invitation of Harvard University

A Mexican doctor talks about his experiments in the United States

written by Enrique Ortega

[ Published in La Prensa, San Antonio, Texas, 19 June 1938 ]
[ Preliminary translation by Chris Duffield from the original Spanish ]

    Lieutenant General  Donato Pérez García, MD of the Mexican army is in San Antonio on his way from Mexico to Washington, DC.

    Dr.  Pérez García has attracted attention in this country since 1935, when he was invited by Harvard University to demonstrate his original procedure for curing mental and nervous system diseases.

    It is difficult to obtain an interview with a doctor on the subject of his branch of science.  Doctors run from publicity, and don't want to explain anything unless it is in the shelter of medical associations or in the pages of specialized publications.

    Nevertheless, the public at large has the right to know about the victories of medical science, as much as doctors do, and we achieve it not without difficulty.  News of positive interest for our readers....[illegible]

    It has been a year since Dr. Pérez García has been in the US, treating mental and nervous system diseases at various institutions, using his procedure which was discovered before his arrival in this country.

    On March 8, 1934, we published on the front page of this newspaper the news of Dr. Donato Pérez García, and the opinions of Mexican doctors about his method. 

    I was interested, then, to follow the thread of the important question and here we enjoy a friendly conversation with this military doctor.

    "It will be a year in July (1937)", he says to us, "since, invited by our government, I came to this country to stay here and treat mental and nervous system diseases with my procedure.  I had encountered it and demonstrated it before March, 1934.  Since May, 1937, I have successfully treated 596 cases, including 218 of general paralysis,  66 of tabes [body wasting or paralysis, probably from syphilis],  27 of general progressive tabo-paralysis,  25 of cerebral syphilis [brain], 23 of convulsions due to lesions, 15 of cerebral softening, 8 of cerebral lesions, 58 of syphilitic origin, 67 of dementia, 7 of agitated paralysis, 4 of essential epilepsy, and 5 of other neuroses."

EO --  I would be extremely interested for the public, Doctor, to give an idea of your procedure, and avoid erroneous or twisted interpretations.  Could we try it?

    "It is rather difficult.  But you have an interest in view of erroneous statements made by various  other doctors.  Employing language with images that clarify the material, you can describe it understandably in this way:

    "I inject insulin to break the equilibrium between the bloodstream and the nerve cells, and also to break the equilibrium between all the [cells?] like for the transformation [ ... ] of the growth of the germs. ... [illegible] ...unload into the circulatory system its contents, I inject the medication after the resumption of normal circulation.

    "In this way we eliminate the dangerous germs, the toxins of the cells, and the disease reacts favorably.

    "Look at these diagrams:  here are represented the components of the blood,  glucose, etc., etc.  In the direction of the arrows, observe the position of the nerve cell, and these arrows indicate the movement of the fluids from the cell, due to the insulin in the blood.

    "Now then, the use of insulin as a medium to accomplish the absorption of medications (patented by me in this country) is my creation, and I have used it since before 1934.

    "Afterwards, Sakel appeared in medical journals as the inventor of this use of insulin.  That is an error.  It attributed to Sakel data of merely two years.

EO -- Pardon me, Doctor.  You had treated mental and nervous system diseases in this country...

    "Absolutely.  First I was invited to Austin State Hospital to give a demonstration.  And on July 30 of last year [1937] they brought me seven mental patients, most with general paralysis and madness. 

    "After my treatment, lasting an average of 49 days, the results were all cures, both clinical and by blood test.

    "The eminent Dr. G. H. Graham of Austin cooperated in examining the blood and cerebrospinal fluid, and verified that the [syphilis] tests of the seven patients were all negative.

    "Look, here are the forms filled out by Dr. Graham, which we can photograph with your permission.

    "I should point out", he continued, "that in the group of seven patients, all had had malaria, diathermia, and 'relapsing fever'.  One had had malaria three times.  Look at the records.

EO-- You will let us photograph them?

    "Certainly.

EO -- And what will you do next?

    "My destination was Washington, by order of the Mexican government.....

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