37. From Goat Testicle Transplants to Radio Doctor (Part 4)
Whatever his shortcomings as a doctor – and those shortcomings were legion – Brinkley, a savvy entrepreneur, quickly grasped the potential of the then-new medium of radio. In 1923, he bought what came to be America’s fourth-biggest radio station, KFKB, chiefly to market his medical practice. Before long, Brinkley was prescribing medications to his listeners: people would write him, with $2 included in the envelope, and he would diagnose them on air, then prescribe medication. The medication was typically only available in a Brinkley-owned pharmacy, or one with whom he had cut a deal for a cut of their profits. However, all good things come to an end. In 1923, California tried to extradite Brinkley, but Kansas’ governor refused to hand him over.
However, bad press – especially from a rival radio station on a mission to expose Brinkley as a fraud – continued to hound the goat gonads doctor. His popularity began to decline after stories emerged that he ran a filthy operating room and Brinkley frequently performed surgery while intoxicated. By 1930, it emerged that Brinkley had signed over 40 death certificates for patients who died during his goat testicle transplants. As a result, Kansas’ Medical Board revoked his license, stating that Brinkley “has performed an organized charlatanism … quite beyond the invention of the humble mountebank“.
