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The “Transfusion Affair” that Shook the Paris Medical Establishment

  • Writer: FibonacciMD
    FibonacciMD
  • 5 days ago
  • 3 min read

How the Transfusion Affair Led to the 1668 Châtelet Conspiracy and Controversy Over Early Blood Transfusion Experiments

Transfusion Affair, 1668 Châtelet conspiracy, early blood transfusion
Lamb to Human Blood Transfusion


The 1668 Châtelet conspiracy.

More than meets the eye!


In 1667, the “Transfusion Affair” sparked intense controversy in Paris, France.  The issue involved the transfusion of animal blood into humans as therapy.  One parliamentary lawyer wrote, “There was never anything that divided opinion as much as we presently witness with the transfusions.”  


Jean Denis and Paul Emmerez were Parisian physicians, who between June 1667 and July 1668 transfused five seriously ill patients with small amounts of calf, lamb, or goat blood.  Two of the patients died but three survived.  Typically, they inserted a silver or brass tube into the animal’s artery and connected it to a goose quill to infuse the blood into a patient’s vein.  This caused a rift in the French medical establishment, with the majority opposing animal transfusion, and led to a larger societal debate about whether the procedure should be performed at all.  


The “Transfusion Affair” began after Antoine Mauroy de Saint-Amant, an ex-valet, was treated for dementia by Denis and Emmerez.  The first two transfusions of lamb’s blood went smoothly.  However, a month or so later, his condition worsened.  His wife, Périne, insisted that Denis perform additional transfusions which led to Monsieur de Saint-Amant’s death.  His wife immediately buried him and no autopsy was performed.  


She subsequently filed a lawsuit against Denis, and a trial was held in the Châtelet court.  (The Châtelet was a medieval fortress that later served as a judicial center until the French Revolution.) 


In April 1668, the Châtelet court ruled that Denis was not liable for the death, as Monsieur de Saint-Amant’s widow was found guilty of poisoning her husband with arsenic, and three unnamed doctors at the Paris Medical School were accused of  bribing her to bring charges against Denis.  Reportedly, Madame de Saint-Amant had been giving her husband arsenic in his broth, which can cause delirium, tremors, and seizures. 


The case was appealed to the Parliament of Paris, where part of the ruling banned doctors and surgeons from “exercising the transfusion of blood under penalty of corporeal (sic)  punishment.”  This restriction lasted over 130 years until the French Revolution. 


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If you want to dive deeper into the "Transfusion Affair" and the shadowy figures behind the Châtelet conspiracy, Blood Work: A Tale of Medicine and Murder in the Scientific Revolution by Holly Tucker provides the definitive, full-length account of the trial and the cutthroat medical rivalries of 17th-century France. [https://amzn.to/41CY5Xe]

References 

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