The Magic Tonsillectomy or Armstrong's Voodoo Science?

[Albert Doyle]

Doctor can tell the difference between regrown tonsils and originals? ROFL. Got a cite for that, Albert?

I think this should go to consultation. An expert should be asked if the scar tissue from a previous surgery would be obvious or if the regrown tonsil would be distinguishable from the original. Also, the regrowth rate should be gotten. How common would it be for them to regrow? Is there any way to check the medical records for the second tonsillectomy to see if mention of the first was cited?

Philben was NOT a MD in 1945. Will you guys ever get that through your skulls? The only bodies recognizing him as a doctor were Osteopathic associations.


There is NO WAY that Philben was licensed to practice medicine as an MD in 1945 - and therefore no way he could legally have performed any operation.

It would also be illegal for him to impress upon Marguerite that Lee had had a tonsillectomy. Whether there is a holistic procedure for tonsils or not the term "tonsillectomy" specifically means surgical removal of the tonsils. For Marguerite to believe Dr Philben performed this surgery when he did not is equally as illegal as him performing it without a medical license. Note in my Wikipedia link for Andrew Taylor Still that he was a Civil War field surgeon assistant before he created the field of Osteopathic medicine. This is interesting. I guess what this comes down to is what exactly Philben told Marguerite when she consulted him. I think you need to talk to the Grove Medical Center pharmacist and ask him when exactly did Dr Philben perform tonsillectomies? Why don't you and David call him on a conference call and put the dilemma to him and see what his answer is?

ON April 17, 1945, Marguerite took out a life insurance policy on Lee and wrote on the form that Lee had had a tonsillectomy performed by Dr Philben on Jan 17 of that same year.

It might make sense that if this were true that Dr Philben did this with other patients. Can you cite any? Can you access any records for Dr Philben?

Seeing Mrs Oswald's other statements about Lee and his spy status she strikes me as being intelligent enough to know better than to refer to a non-tonsillectomy as a tonsillectomy. Don't forget this is the same woman who went to Washington and triggered the return of Lee by threatening to out his spy status. She also strikes me as being shrewd enough to know that entering a false surgery on an insurance form might be enough of a violation to void the policy.

I think the pharmacist needs to be consulted and asked how far back did Dr Philben's tonsillectomies go? Even if Armstrong was wrong on this one I still think the rest of his theory has some merit.