Editing Albert Abrams (section)

==Investigation==
The dispute between Abrams and his followers and the [[American Medical Association]] (AMA) was intensified. Defenders included American radical author [[Upton Sinclair]]<ref>{{cite news | title =Upton Sinclair's Story About Dr. Abrams and His Work| newspaper =The Miami News| date =November 25, 1922
| url =https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=um5VAAAAIBAJ&pg=4265,416343&dq=albert+abrams+healer&hl=en| access-date =July 24, 2012}}</ref> and the famously credulous Sir [[Arthur Conan Doyle]], the creator of [[Sherlock Holmes]]. Resolution of the dispute through the intervention of a scientifically respected third party was pursued. ''[[Scientific American]]'' magazine decided to investigate Dr. Abrams' claims. ''Scientific American'' was interested in the matter as readers were writing letters to the editor saying that Abrams' revolutionary machines were one of the greatest inventions of the century and so needed to be discussed in the pages of the magazine.

''Scientific American'' assembled a team of investigators who worked with a senior Abrams associate given the pseudonym "Doctor X". The investigators developed a series of tests and the magazine asked readers to suggest their own tests. The investigators asked Doctor X to identify six vials containing unknown [[pathogens]]. It seems likely that Doctor X honestly believed in his Abrams machines; in fact, he allowed the ''Scientific American'' investigators to observe his procedure. Doctor X got the contents of all six vials completely wrong. He examined the vials and pointed out that they had labels in red ink, which produced vibrations that confounded the instruments. The investigators gave him the vials again with less offensive labels, and he got the contents wrong again.

The results were published in ''Scientific American'', and investigators continued their work.<ref>Austin C. Lescarboura, "Our Abrams Investigation – VI." A Study of the Late Dr. Albert Abrams of San Francisco and His Work. Scientific American 1924 March; 130 (3):159 <br>
Austin C. Lescarboura, "Our Abrams Verdict. The Electronic Reactions of Abrams and Electronic Medicine in General Found Utterly Worthless. Scientific American 1924 Sep; 131 (3):158-159</ref> Abrams offered to "cooperate" with the investigators, but always failed to do so on various pretexts.<ref>{{cite web| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=GLIxAAAAMAAJ&q=%22Albert+Abrams%22+3,500| title = CA: A Journal for Cancer Clinicians, 1950| last1 = Cameron| first1 = Charles S.| year = 1994}}</ref> Abrams never actually participated in the investigation, and in ERA publications asserted he was a victim of unjust persecution.<ref>{{cite book
|title=New Concepts in Diagnosis and Treatment
|author=Albert Abrams
|year=1922
|publisher=Physico-Clinical Co.
|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xNOAOd2dAWkC&dq=%22Albert+Abrams%22+persecution&pg=PR10
}}</ref>

===Debunking===
An AMA member sent a blood sample to an Abrams practitioner, and got back a diagnosis that the patient had [[malaria]], diabetes, cancer and syphilis. The blood sample was in fact from a [[Plymouth Rock (chicken)|Plymouth Rock rooster]].<ref name=Kaplan>[https://centerforinquiry.s3.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/33/2023/04/09193429/albert-abrams-fakery.pdf Doctor Abrams - Dean of Machine Quacks], by Jack Kaplan, in ''Today's Health''; published April 1966; archived at the [[Center for Inquiry]]</ref>

Similar samples were sent to other Abrams practitioners, and a few found themselves facing fraud charges in court. In a case in [[Jonesboro, Arkansas]], Abrams was called to be a witness, but he died of [[pneumonia]] at age 60 shortly before the trial began in January 1924.<ref>{{cite news
 | title ="Blood Healer" is Tried for Fraud| newspaper =The Evening Independent| date =January 14, 1924
 | url =https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=CvtPAAAAIBAJ&pg=2758,934706&dq=albert+abrams+jonesboro&hl=en| access-date =July 24, 2012}}</ref> After his death, investigators with the [[Food and Drug Administration]] opened some of the doctor's boxes. One produced a magnetic field, similar to a doorbell; another was a low-powered radio wave transmitter.<ref>{{cite news | last =Frost | first =Helena| title =Quacks Thrive Because People Want Quick Cures
 | newspaper =Beaver County Times| publisher =UPI| date =May 14, 1960
 | url =https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=uLwuAAAAIBAJ&pg=1422,2298390&dq=albert+abrams+md&hl=en| access-date =July 24, 2012}}</ref>

Psychologist [[Donovan Rawcliffe]] claimed that Abrams' devices had no scientific validity but his successors had "founded a good many special clinics in the United States and their number has by no means diminished in the ensuing years."<ref>[[Donovan Rawcliffe|Rawcliffe, Donovan]]. (1988). ''Occult and Supernatural Phenomena''. Dover Publications. pp. 364-366. {{ISBN|0-486-25551-4}}</ref>