c. 1923demonstrationcritical
AMA Blinded-Specimen Exposures of ERA Practitioners
ERA blood-spot diagnosis, exposed through deliberately mislabeled specimens
American Medical Association / cooperating physicians · United States
Method
Physicians submitted non-human and contrived specimens to ERA practitioners under patient names: animal blood (famously from a healthy rooster, also sheep and guinea-pig samples in contemporary accounts) and red ink; autographs of historical figures were also 'diagnosed'.
Findings
- Animal blood and red ink submitted as human patients returned detailed human disease diagnoses (e.g. malaria, syphilis, diabetes).
- Tested autographs attributed congenital syphilis to Samuel Pepys, with the same result for Longfellow and Poe.
Conclusion
ERA diagnoses tracked the labels and expectations, not the specimens — consistent with operator self-deception rather than measurement.
The proponent response
Practitioners argued contamination, 'inherited taints' and vaccination signatures could explain anomalous positives — the Pearson's compilation in this corpus carries such defenses.