Make Mine Gold, Please! The Keeley Cure Reviewed

The year was 1891; the place was Blair, Nebraska – not too far from Omaha. It was the beginning of the “Gay Nineties,” referring not to anyone’s lifestyle but to the frivolity and carefree living in a time when America was prospering economically and growing as a nation by leaps and bounds. Alcohol flowed freely – perhaps a little too freely – and even folks of the highest social class carried the dark secret of addiction to opium and morphine.

Ladies weren’t addicts, of course; they merely suffered from “nervous conditions” stemming from way too much opiate-based laudanum – the cure-all medicine of the day. Gentlemen, however, flocked to Blair for one reason: To seek the services of Dr. Leslie E. Keeley, the Irish-born physician who guaranteed to permanently cure their “habits” of alcohol, opium, morphine and tobacco through his altogether unique combination of healthy living and regular doses of the infamous “Keeley Cure.” At Blair’s Keeley Institute, patients received droughts of what Keeley said was a mixture based upon gold chloride; in all likelihood the famous Cure was actually a combination of

• glycerin oil
• atropine (today used as an antidote to nerve gas) 
  
• the poisons arsenic
• the poisons strychnine (used today in pest control).
  

You can hardly blame the guy for the likely fake “gold” part; it certainly sounds better than the Poison Cure, especially among Keeley’s wealthy socialite clients. Keeley also prescribed plenty of sleep, exercise, fresh air, and properly nutritious meals. He guessed (correctly, it turns out) that alcohol and narcotic addiction robbed patients of essential healing rest and nutrients.

A Sign of the Times

As dubious as the Keeley Cure sounds in today’s addiction treatment world, it was pretty fancy stuff in the 1890’s. Medical historians tell us that in the last century, pharmaceuticals often contained extracts of gold and silver and, in low doses, even several types of poisons. Would it surprise you to learn that medical-grade silver solutions are still very much used today, especially in the healing of infected wounds? That atropine self-injections are issued to every soldier serving in combat in the Middle East? That veterinarians often use an arsenic-based medication to rid dogs of heart-worm infestations? All these are valid treatment protocols – right up there with the use of leaches and maggots!

Ah well, such modern validations didn’t come around in time to save Dr. Keeley from having his medical license revoked because of his controversial Cure, even though Keeley Institutes had arisen throughout the US, Canada and Mexico.

Okay, maybe he was merely a Blarney-talking Irishman who knew how to make a buck or two in the high-life times of the Gay Nineties. Or maybe he just seriously annoyed his peers with his claims of returning permanent sobriety to around 17,000 physicians. At any rate, the Keeley Cure made its place in addiction treatment history by daring to speak openly about the mere existence of the issue. Lest we assume that substance abuse is a problem that has only really been addressed in the past two decades or so, let’s remember that even before the birth of Alcoholics Anonymous in the 1930’s, addiction was widespread among Americans of all socio-economic classes. 

Let’s also remember that sometimes it’s best not to ask too many questions about what’s actually contained in your prescriptions!