The Doctor Who Tried To Save Houdini

In medicine we have a saying that goes ” any elevator operator would tell you” when something is so obvious and undeniable that someone with no medical education could make the diagnosis.

Such was the case with Harry Houdini. In this article I am not going to debate the traumatic appendicitis causation but rather look at the physician who tried to save Houdini, Dr. Leo John Dretzka.

On October 11, 1926 in Albany, NY, the 200 -350 pound ankle stocks ( reports varied ) fractured as Houdini was being lifted upside down for the Chinese Water Torture stunt.

Dr. Elwynn Hannock, a physician in the audience, examined him, bandaging his foot and applying a temporary splint. An Xray confirmed the diagnosis of a hairline fracture with ligamentous injury, making it extremely painful to walk or stand for a minimum of 6 weeks, if not longer.

I emphasize this point, because statements were made that Houdini was sickly upon arrival in Montreal on October 18, only 1 week later, looking exhausted. With the help of a splint and bandages, he had performed 5 more days after the accident before arriving in Montreal.

Constant pain wears anyone down, and I don’t doubt Houdini was suffering greatly at the time.

The Blows

On October 19, he lectured to the students at McGill University, limping to the slightly raised platform with “drawn face and dark shadows under tired eyes” according to Samuel Smilovitz, a psychology student who attended the lecture.

Houdini would note in his diary that he “spoke for an hour, my leg broken.” This should lay to rest the opinion that he already was suffering from appendicitis.

Acknowledging he indeed met with students and was punched several times on his right side as he lay on a bed for a portrait, the next set of events takes a dark, medical turn.

Train Trip to Detroit

By the time Houdini and Bess were on the train to Detroit, Harry was suffering severe abdominal pains and had an elevated temperature of 102. The nurse, who was accompaning the party, correctly diagnosed an emergency and wired ahead for a physician to meet them at the train station.

Detroit Receiving Hospital ( now Detroit General Receiving Hospital) has a rich history, dating back to the 1920s. At that time, it was known as the “Receiving” hospital, due to its location near the Michigan Central Railroad station, where it received emergency patients from across the country.

In the 1920s, Detroit Receiving Hospital was a major medical facility, equipped with the latest technology and staffed by skilled medical professionals, such as Dr. Dretzka. It is clear the call for a physician to meet Houdini at the train station wasn’t an unusual request for a trauma center.

Dr. Leo John Dretzka, Trauma Surgeon

Dr. Leo John Dretzka, a prominent surgeon in Detroit, was what we would now label a “trauma surgeon.” He was of German descent, an American citizen and did his surgical residency at the Detroit Receiving Hospital. He was a Fellow of the American College of Surgeons.

He was married to Doris Moore, who starred in an off- broadway production of “Peg 0 My Heart” according to this newspaper clipping. He was also known to have a “wide acquaintance with men and women of the theatrical and writing profession.”

Dr. Dretzka had served with the American Expeditionary Forces, the US military forces deployed to Europe, particularly France, under the command of General John J. Pershing. He had first hand trauma experience and even specialized in neurosurgery or brain/spine surgeries.

With this background, he would be the ideal consultant to determine the cause of Houdini’s abdominal pain, especially after the accident in Albany.

These are just a few of his Publications:

The Journal of the Michigan State Medical Society, January to December, 1927

You can read his report on Acute Traumatic Injuries of the Abdomen starting on page 717. Note this is a report about surgeries he performed in 1927 and does not include any information about Houdini directly.

And if you are interested in the history of surgery as it existed in Victorian times, read “Lord Lister’s Influence on Modern Surgery” on page 693. No wonder surgeons were “barbarians” in Old England.

Dr. Dretzka had no problem diagnosing appendicitis, according to this article by the Associated Press ( NOT the New York Times) and without a doubt recommended immediate admission to the Detroit Receiving hospital under his care. However Houdini refuted his diagnosis and proceeded to the Statler Hotel where he experiences early signs of septic shock ( rigors, tremors) and an increase in temperature to 104.

Despite these “elevator operator” signs, he goes to the theatre where, after the first act, he has convulsive seizures ( a sign of massive septicemia ).

THIS IS THE MOMENT OF RUPTURE and not during the actual assault in Montreal.

The instant a patient goes into septic shock, the death clock begins ticking, as every minute increases the spread of deadly neurotoxins and tissue liquification. It is considered a Code Sepsis, just under a Code Blue for cardiac arrest as to priority screening for services.

Houdini collapses again at the end of the show and returns to his hotel, where a newly minted post surgical resident is moonlighting as a substitute hotel doc while trying to develop his own practice.

Enter Dr. Daniel E Cohen. Here is where the plot thickens. Cohen isn’t sure if its appendicitis or some abdominal trauma causing a blood clot to the bowel but knows the patient is in serious trouble. So, he calls his former Chief of Surgery, Dr. Charles Stuart Kennedy for a third opinion.

Dr Kennedy arrives at 3 AM and diagnoses abdominal trauma, NOT appendicitis. However this is not enough for Houdini, who refuses to be admitted until he calls his family doctor in New York, Dr William Stone, who convinces him to get to the hospital…in this case Grace Hospital where Dr Kennedy is Chief of Staff.

There is no record of the precise time of the phone call, but Houdini does not undergo surgery for 12 more hours!

WHO WAS THE CHIEF SURGEON?

If you read the Associated Press reports, it appears Dr. Leo Dretzka is listed as Houdini’s physician and is the one reporting on his condition as grave after the procedure. No other physicians are mentioned by name. It is not unusual for physicians to have privileges at more than one hospital.

The Battle of the Press

A careful read of the New York Times article does NOT state Drs. Kennedy or Hewett were the surgeons, but more likely, were assistant surgeons in this case.

HOUDINI NEAR DEATH AFTER AN OPERATION

Magician Stricken With Acute Appendicitis During Performance

—Peritonitis Develops.

Special to The New York Times.

DETROIT, Mich., Oct. 25–Harry Houdini, famous magician, was reported near death in Grace Hospital tonight several hours after an operation for removal of the appendix had been performed.

The statement issued by physicians attending the magician said:

“Mr. Houdini was operated on at Grace Hospital at 3 o’clock this afternoon for an obscure abdominal condition which proved to be anomalous appendicitis. The appendix had ruptured far over on the left side of the abdomen and a strepococcic peritonis [sic] has developed as a result of the rupture. Grave doubts are entertained for his recovery.”

The bulletin was signed by John Taylor Watkins, Charles S. Kennedy, Herbert W. Hewitt and Daniel Cohen.

Houdini was taken ill Sunday afternoon, but insisted on going through with his performances at the Garrick Theatre in the evening despite the fact that his temperature was 104 and that a physician ( Dr. Cohen not Dr. Dretzka who did diagnose appendicitis ) who examined him at the time declared that he was suffering from appendicitis. ( We know this to be false.)

According to Houdini’s manager, the magician complained of severe abdominal pains on the train while traveling to Detroit from Montreal Sunday. The first twinge of pain was felt last week after he had engaged in a friendly sparring match with a newspaper man ( it was a student) in his dressing room in a Montreal theatre.

Detroit physicians say this may have brought on complications that developed into acute appendicitis, although Houdini suffered no inconvenience at the time.”

The Coverup

It’s always political suicide to publicly humiliate a medical professional in the press, especially if he happens to be the one who founded the American College of Surgeons .

Now we start to see that the Associated Press is talking only to Dr. Dretzka while the New York Times is getting twice daily press releases signed from the other four doctors WITHOUT Dretzka being mentioned.

One can’t help but suspect a cabal has broken out between Dretzka and the Group of Four, who unanimously declare they always suspected appendicitis, especially after the AP publication of the conflict in diagnosis. What a PR nightmare!

Why it took 12 hours for surgery to start is unexplainable for ANY acute abdominal case. As chief of surgery, Kennedy would have no problem usurping or “bumping” as we say in the trade, a less emergent case for Houdini’s Code Sepsis.

In fairness, once Harry experienced seizures at the theatre there was no hope that he could survive any procedure, as sepsis at this stage, in the absence of antibiotics, is 100% lethal, as noted in Dr. Dretzka’s 1927 publication.

Had he been admitted once Dr. Dretzka saw him at the train station, Houdini’s life could have been spared as the appendix was inflamed but not ruptured until during the performance.

Houdini’s own stubbornness was responsible for his demise as “delay in applying for medical attention may hurt his chances of recovery, they indicated.”

Ironically Dr. Leo John Dretzka would die at the age of 41 in 1930 within a week after an abrasion while horseback riding became infected with streptococci.