John B. Harman
Encyclopedia
John Bishop Harman, FRCS
, FRCP
(10 August 1907 – 13 November 1994) was a British
physician
, president of the Medical Defence Union
and chairman of the British National Formulary
. He was also notable as a medical expert witness
for the defence in the trial of suspected serial killer
John Bodkin Adams
. His daughter, Harriet Harman
, is the current deputy leader of the Labour Party
.
and practised and lived there his whole life. His father, Nathaniel, trained as a Baptist
minister but gained a double first
at Cambridge
and became an ophthalmic
consultant. His mother was Katherine Chamberlain, a niece of Joseph Chamberlain
, and thus cousin to Austen
and Neville
. Katherine also qualified as a doctor but devoted herself to her family instead. Both his parents were committed Unitarians
, his mother by birth and his father by conversion before marriage; his mother gave a substantial sum of money towards the reconstruction of the headquarters building known as Essex Hall. His eldest sibling grew up to be a historian and writer, best known under her married name as Elizabeth Pakenham, Countess of Longford.
Harman went to Oundle School
, where he was very left-wing. According to a classmate, Sir Cyril Clarke
, he later "became a staunch conservative, although he was nearly always anti-establishment simply for the fun of it.” He went to St John's College, Cambridge
, and then studied at St Thomas's Hospital Medical School.
during the Second World War
. Later he edited St Thomas's Pharmacopoeia
reference book.
In 1971 Harman took over the chairmanship of the British National Formulary
and between 1975-1978 was instrumental in persuading the Department of Health and Social Security
to make it the National Health Service
's medicine handbook at a time when its existence was under threat.
Harman retired in 1972 and took on the presidency of the Medical Defence Union
.
was tried in 1957 for the murder
of an 81-year-old patient, Edith Alice Morrell
. Harman was called as the defence's main expert witness. He gave evidence that though the deceased was being prescribed high amounts of heroin and morphine
by her general practitioner
, it was entirely justified under the circumstances and that it would have done more harm to the patient if the treatment was discontinued. During cross-examination
, however, it was established: that Harman had himself only ever worked as a general practitioner for a total of two weeks. He had only ever treated a handful of drug addicts - before the war. He had never seen 'spasms' caused by drug addiction, despite acting them out for the court in detail - he had only ever read about them. And furthermore, despite being a witness for the defence, he claimed he had at no time talked to Adams about his treatment of the patient.
Adams was acquitted, and a second count of the murder of another patient, Gertrude Hullett
, was controversially withdrawn. The prosecutor Attorney-General, Sir Reginald Manningham-Buller, entered a nolle prosequi
which the presiding judge, Patrick Devlin
, later termed "an abuse of process".
Adams was subsequently successfully prosecuted on 13 lesser charges of prescription
fraud, lying on cremation
forms, obstructing a police search and failing to keep a dangerous drugs register. He was removed from the Medical Register in 1957 and reinstated in 1961. Home Office
pathologist Francis Camps
, however, suspected Adams of causing the deaths of 163 patients in total.
), introduced him to a lawyer, Anna Spicer. They married in 1946 and had four daughters who all became solicitors.
Fellowship of the Royal College of Surgeons
Fellowship of the Royal College of Surgeons is a professional qualification to practise as a surgeon in the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland...
, FRCP
Royal College of Physicians
The Royal College of Physicians of London was founded in 1518 as the College of Physicians by royal charter of King Henry VIII in 1518 - the first medical institution in England to receive a royal charter...
(10 August 1907 – 13 November 1994) was a British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
physician
Physician
A physician is a health care provider who practices the profession of medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring human health through the study, diagnosis, and treatment of disease, injury and other physical and mental impairments...
, president of the Medical Defence Union
Medical Defence Union
The Medical Defence Union is the largest medical defence union in the United Kingdom, and is one of three major medical defence organisations in the country.The MDU was established in 1885 and was the first of its kind in the world...
and chairman of the British National Formulary
British National Formulary
The British National Formulary is a medical and pharmaceutical reference book that contains a wide spectrum of information and advice on prescribing and pharmacology, along with specific facts and details about all medicines available on the National Health Service , including indication,...
. He was also notable as a medical expert witness
Expert witness
An expert witness, professional witness or judicial expert is a witness, who by virtue of education, training, skill, or experience, is believed to have expertise and specialised knowledge in a particular subject beyond that of the average person, sufficient that others may officially and legally...
for the defence in the trial of suspected serial killer
Serial killer
A serial killer, as typically defined, is an individual who has murdered three or more people over a period of more than a month, with down time between the murders, and whose motivation for killing is usually based on psychological gratification...
John Bodkin Adams
John Bodkin Adams
John Bodkin Adams was an Irish-born British general practitioner, convicted fraudster and suspected serial killer. Between the years 1946 and 1956, more than 160 of his patients died in suspicious circumstances. Of these, 132 left him money or items in their will. He was tried and acquitted for...
. His daughter, Harriet Harman
Harriet Harman
Harriet Ruth Harman QC is a British Labour Party politician, who is the Member of Parliament for Camberwell and Peckham, and was MP for the predecessorPeckham constituency from 1982 to 1997...
, is the current deputy leader of the Labour Party
Labour Party (UK)
The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...
.
Early life
Harman was born at 108 Harley StreetHarley Street
Harley Street is a street in the City of Westminster in London, England which has been noted since the 19th century for its large number of private specialists in medicine and surgery.- Overview :...
and practised and lived there his whole life. His father, Nathaniel, trained as a Baptist
Baptist
Baptists comprise a group of Christian denominations and churches that subscribe to a doctrine that baptism should be performed only for professing believers , and that it must be done by immersion...
minister but gained a double first
British undergraduate degree classification
The British undergraduate degree classification system is a grading scheme for undergraduate degrees in the United Kingdom...
at Cambridge
University of Cambridge
The University of Cambridge is a public research university located in Cambridge, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest university in both the United Kingdom and the English-speaking world , and the seventh-oldest globally...
and became an ophthalmic
Ophthalmology
Ophthalmology is the branch of medicine that deals with the anatomy, physiology and diseases of the eye. An ophthalmologist is a specialist in medical and surgical eye problems...
consultant. His mother was Katherine Chamberlain, a niece of Joseph Chamberlain
Joseph Chamberlain
Joseph Chamberlain was an influential British politician and statesman. Unlike most major politicians of the time, he was a self-made businessman and had not attended Oxford or Cambridge University....
, and thus cousin to Austen
Austen Chamberlain
Sir Joseph Austen Chamberlain, KG was a British statesman, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize and half-brother of Neville Chamberlain.- Early life and career :...
and Neville
Neville Chamberlain
Arthur Neville Chamberlain FRS was a British Conservative politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from May 1937 to May 1940. Chamberlain is best known for his appeasement foreign policy, and in particular for his signing of the Munich Agreement in 1938, conceding the...
. Katherine also qualified as a doctor but devoted herself to her family instead. Both his parents were committed Unitarians
Unitarianism
Unitarianism is a Christian theological movement, named for its understanding of God as one person, in direct contrast to Trinitarianism which defines God as three persons coexisting consubstantially as one in being....
, his mother by birth and his father by conversion before marriage; his mother gave a substantial sum of money towards the reconstruction of the headquarters building known as Essex Hall. His eldest sibling grew up to be a historian and writer, best known under her married name as Elizabeth Pakenham, Countess of Longford.
Harman went to Oundle School
Oundle School
Oundle School is a co-educational British public school located in the ancient market town of Oundle in Northamptonshire. The school has been maintained by the Worshipful Company of Grocers of the City of London since its foundation in 1556. Oundle has eight boys' houses, five girls' houses, a day...
, where he was very left-wing. According to a classmate, Sir Cyril Clarke
Cyril Clarke
Sir Cyril Astley Clarke KBE, FRCP, FRCOG, FRC Path, FRS was a British physician, geneticist and lepidopterist...
, he later "became a staunch conservative, although he was nearly always anti-establishment simply for the fun of it.” He went to St John's College, Cambridge
St John's College, Cambridge
St John's College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college's alumni include nine Nobel Prize winners, six Prime Ministers, three archbishops, at least two princes, and three Saints....
, and then studied at St Thomas's Hospital Medical School.
Career
Harman stayed on at St Thomas's and became a consultant in 1938. He served in the RAMCRoyal Army Medical Corps
The Royal Army Medical Corps is a specialist corps in the British Army which provides medical services to all British Army personnel and their families in war and in peace...
during the Second World War
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. Later he edited St Thomas's Pharmacopoeia
Pharmacopoeia
Pharmacopoeia, pharmacopeia, or pharmacopoea, , in its modern technical sense, is a book containing directions for the identification of samples and the preparation of compound medicines, and published by the authority of a government or a medical or pharmaceutical society.In a broader sense it is...
reference book.
In 1971 Harman took over the chairmanship of the British National Formulary
British National Formulary
The British National Formulary is a medical and pharmaceutical reference book that contains a wide spectrum of information and advice on prescribing and pharmacology, along with specific facts and details about all medicines available on the National Health Service , including indication,...
and between 1975-1978 was instrumental in persuading the Department of Health and Social Security
Department of Health and Social Security
The Department of Health and Social Security was a ministry of the British government in existence for twenty years from 1968 until 1988, and was headed by the Secretary of State for Social Services.-History:...
to make it the National Health Service
National Health Service
The National Health Service is the shared name of three of the four publicly funded healthcare systems in the United Kingdom. They provide a comprehensive range of health services, the vast majority of which are free at the point of use to residents of the United Kingdom...
's medicine handbook at a time when its existence was under threat.
Harman retired in 1972 and took on the presidency of the Medical Defence Union
Medical Defence Union
The Medical Defence Union is the largest medical defence union in the United Kingdom, and is one of three major medical defence organisations in the country.The MDU was established in 1885 and was the first of its kind in the world...
.
Adams trial
Doctor John Bodkin AdamsJohn Bodkin Adams
John Bodkin Adams was an Irish-born British general practitioner, convicted fraudster and suspected serial killer. Between the years 1946 and 1956, more than 160 of his patients died in suspicious circumstances. Of these, 132 left him money or items in their will. He was tried and acquitted for...
was tried in 1957 for the murder
Murder
Murder is the unlawful killing, with malice aforethought, of another human being, and generally this state of mind distinguishes murder from other forms of unlawful homicide...
of an 81-year-old patient, Edith Alice Morrell
Edith Alice Morrell
Edith Alice Morrell , was a resident of Eastbourne and patient of the suspected serial killer John Bodkin Adams. He was tried for her murder in 1957 but acquitted...
. Harman was called as the defence's main expert witness. He gave evidence that though the deceased was being prescribed high amounts of heroin and morphine
Morphine
Morphine is a potent opiate analgesic medication and is considered to be the prototypical opioid. It was first isolated in 1804 by Friedrich Sertürner, first distributed by same in 1817, and first commercially sold by Merck in 1827, which at the time was a single small chemists' shop. It was more...
by her general practitioner
General practitioner
A general practitioner is a medical practitioner who treats acute and chronic illnesses and provides preventive care and health education for all ages and both sexes. They have particular skills in treating people with multiple health issues and comorbidities...
, it was entirely justified under the circumstances and that it would have done more harm to the patient if the treatment was discontinued. During cross-examination
Cross-examination
In law, cross-examination is the interrogation of a witness called by one's opponent. It is preceded by direct examination and may be followed by a redirect .- Variations by Jurisdiction :In...
, however, it was established: that Harman had himself only ever worked as a general practitioner for a total of two weeks. He had only ever treated a handful of drug addicts - before the war. He had never seen 'spasms' caused by drug addiction, despite acting them out for the court in detail - he had only ever read about them. And furthermore, despite being a witness for the defence, he claimed he had at no time talked to Adams about his treatment of the patient.
Adams was acquitted, and a second count of the murder of another patient, Gertrude Hullett
Gertrude Hullett
Gertrude "Bobby" Hullett , a resident of Eastbourne, East Sussex, England, was a patient of the suspected serial killer Dr John Bodkin Adams, who was charged with her murder but never tried for it.-Jack Hullett:...
, was controversially withdrawn. The prosecutor Attorney-General, Sir Reginald Manningham-Buller, entered a nolle prosequi
Nolle prosequi
Nolle prosequi is legal term of art and a Latin legal phrase meaning "to be unwilling to pursue", a phrase amounting to "please do not prosecute". It is a phrase used in many common law criminal prosecution contexts to describe a prosecutor's decision to voluntarily discontinue criminal charges...
which the presiding judge, Patrick Devlin
Patrick Devlin, Baron Devlin
Patrick Arthur Devlin, Baron Devlin, PC was a British lawyer, judge and jurist. He wrote a report on Britain's involvement in Nyasaland in 1959...
, later termed "an abuse of process".
Adams was subsequently successfully prosecuted on 13 lesser charges of prescription
Medical prescription
A prescription is a health-care program implemented by a physician or other medical practitioner in the form of instructions that govern the plan of care for an individual patient. Prescriptions may include orders to be performed by a patient, caretaker, nurse, pharmacist or other therapist....
fraud, lying on cremation
Cremation
Cremation is the process of reducing bodies to basic chemical compounds such as gasses and bone fragments. This is accomplished through high-temperature burning, vaporization and oxidation....
forms, obstructing a police search and failing to keep a dangerous drugs register. He was removed from the Medical Register in 1957 and reinstated in 1961. Home Office
Home Office
The Home Office is the United Kingdom government department responsible for immigration control, security, and order. As such it is responsible for the police, UK Border Agency, and the Security Service . It is also in charge of government policy on security-related issues such as drugs,...
pathologist Francis Camps
Francis Camps
Francis Edward Camps, FRCP, FRCpath was a famous English pathologist notable for his work on the cases of serial killer John Christie and suspected serial killer John Bodkin Adams.-Early life and training:...
, however, suspected Adams of causing the deaths of 163 patients in total.
Death
Harman died from a dissecting aortic aneurysm, while driving his car to St Thomas's in 1994.Family
His sister, Elizabeth (wife of Lord LongfordFrank Pakenham, 7th Earl of Longford
Francis Aungier Pakenham, 7th Earl of Longford KG, PC , known as the Lord Pakenham from 1945 to 1961, was a British politician, author, and social reformer...
), introduced him to a lawyer, Anna Spicer. They married in 1946 and had four daughters who all became solicitors.