Leslie Keeley
| Leslie Enraught Keeley | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Born |
June 10, 1836 Potsdam, New York |
| Died | February 21, 1900 (aged 63) Los Angeles, California |
| Cause of death | Heart attack |
| Education | Rush Medical College (1836) |
Leslie Enraught Keeley, M.D. (June 10, 1836 – February 21, 1900) was an American physician, originator of the Keeley Cure.
He was born in Potsdam, New York on June 10, 1836.
Keeley graduated at the Rush Medical College, Chicago, in 1863, and later entered the Union Army as a surgeon. At the end of the war he moved to Dwight, Illinois, where he began his private medical practice. There, in 1880, he opened a sanatorium for persons addicted to the immoderate use of alcohol and opium. He asserted that "Alcoholism is a disease and I can cure it." His treatment centered on a secret preparation that he said contained bichloride of gold. However, chemical analysis revealed that the proprietary tonic contained 27.55% alcohol plus ammonium chloride, aloin and tincture of cinchona but no gold. His hypodermic injections contained sulfate of strychnine, atropine and boracic acid.
In 1890, Keeley began selling franchises and by 1893 there were 92 Keeley Institutes in the US, Canada, and Mexico and that number grew to over 200 and expanded to Europe.
In 1939, Time magazine reported that "Unvarying is the traditional Keeley routine. An incoming inebriate pays $160, plus room and board, must stay for 31 days. His weekly whiskey ration is gradually tapered off: eight ounces the first day, six ounces the second, four ounces the third, none from there on. Four times a day he gets gold chloride injections; every two hours he takes a tonic." At its height, the clinic in Dwight treated 700 patients per day.
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