Richard Asher was born to the Reverend Felix Asher and his wife Louise (née Stern). He married
Margaret Augusta Eliot at St Pancras' Church, London on 27 July 1943,[6] whereupon his father-in-law gave him a complete set of the Oxford English Dictionary, which doctor and medical ethicist
Maurice Pappworth alleged was the source of Asher's "accidental" reputation as a medical
etymologist.[7] They had three children:
Peter Asher (born 1944), a member of the pop duo
Peter & Gordon and later record producer;
Jane Asher (born 1946), a film and TV actress and novelist; and Clare Asher (born 1948), a radio actress. Richard Asher's brother Thomas married Margaret's sister, Susan.[8]
The Asher family home above his private consulting rooms at 57
Wimpole Street was briefly notable when
Paul McCartney of
The Beatles lived there in 1964–66, at the height of "
Beatlemania", during his relationship with Jane Asher.[9]
In 1964 Asher suddenly gave up his hospital post and perhaps all medical activities.[4] He suffered from depression in later life and reportedly died by suicide at the age of 57.[3] His death took place at 57 Wimpole Street, and he left a will and an estate valued at £35,937.[10]
Ideas and reputation
Asher was regarded as "one of the foremost medical thinkers of our times",[11] who emphasised the need "to be increasingly critical of our own and other people's thinking".[12] Asher was particularly concerned that "many clinical notions are accepted because they are comforting rather than because there is any evidence to support them".[13]
Asher was hailed as a pioneer[14] in challenging the value of excessive bed rest following treatment,[15] and argued that the
Pel–Ebstein fever (a fever characteristic for
Hodgkin's disease) was an example of a condition that exists only because it has a name.[16] Asher's 1949 paper "Myxoedematous Madness"[17] alerted a generation of physicians to the interaction between the brain and the thyroid gland. As a result, young and elderly psychiatric patients are now screened for thyroid malfunction.[18] Some of the 'madness' cases are now thought[19] to be the early descriptions of
Hashimoto's encephalopathy, a rare neuroendocrine syndrome sometimes presenting with
psychosis.
Notable articles
Asher is remembered today mostly for his "refreshingly provoking"[3] articles which "sparkle with sequins--his own aphorisms, imaginary dialogue, fantasies, quotations."[20] He thought that medical writing should provide "useful, understandable, and practical knowledge instead of allotov-words-2-obscure-4-any-1,2-succidin-understanding-them."[21] Anthologies of his articles were well-received,[11][22] with the Talking Sense collection being described as "still the best advice on medical writing."[23] Notable articles include:
The "
Seven Sins of Medicine"[3] is a lecture delivered by Asher and later published in The Lancet, describing medical professional behaviour that is considered inappropriate. These sins are often quoted to students:
Obscurity
Cruelty
Bad manners
Over-specialisation
Love of the rare
Common stupidity
Sloth
Prize in his memory
From 1995 to 2010 an annual prize (2010 value £1,200) in memory of Asher was awarded by the
Royal Society of Medicine and the
Society of Authors for the best first edition textbook aimed at undergraduate students.[25] The most recent prize was presented to Hugo Farne, Edward Norris-Cervetto and James Warbrick-Smith for their book "Oxford Cases in Medicine and Surgery" at the
Royal Society of Medicine, 27 October 2010.
References
^GRO Register of Births: JUN 1912 2b 394 BRIGHTON - Richard Asher, mmn = Stern
^GRO Register of Deaths: JUN 1969 5d 1959 ST MARYLEBONE - Richard Asher, DoB = 3 Apr 1912