Lorraine Boissoneault

Lorraine Boissoneault is the author of the new book Body Weather and a former staff writer at Smithsonian Magazine.

Patients crippled by tuberculosis are treated outdoors in the snow at the Harlow Wood Orthopaedic Hospital in Nottinghamshire, on January 24, 1933. Whatever the weather, they spent their days lying on iron bedsteads in the open air, as a “curative” measure.

I Was Treated for Tuberculosis While Millions Were Robbed of Care I Was Treated for Tuberculosis While Millions Were Robbed of Care

And RFK Jr.’s HHS leadership will only make contracting arcane illnesses like this one a more common affair.

Apr 25, 2026 / Lorraine Boissoneault

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