David and Goliath: Underdogs, Misfits, and the Art of Battling Giants

diseases like childhood leukemia, so he
talked about Hodgkin’s disease in
adults. He said that if you have a patient
who has widespread Hodgkin’s disease,
then it’s best to tell that patient to go to
Florida and enjoy life. If patients are
having too many symptoms from their
Hodgkin’s disease, you treat them with a
little X-ray or possibly a little nitrogen
mustard, but give the smallest dose
possible. Anything more aggressive than
that is unethical, and giving four drugs at
a time is unconscionable.”
Frei and Freireich were desperate.
They went to their boss, Gordon Zubrod.
Zubrod had been through the wars with
Freireich over the platelets controversy.