At one time, this was the preferred way to treat disease by most doctors – and electricians! Tesla’s Violet Ray fused quartz electrotherapeutic device was so popular, a chain of gas stations were named after it!
Since medicine was not officially regulated at the turn of the century, electricians rushed out to build or purchase their own machines and without any medical training, started to use them on patients. The Electrotherapeutic Association was formed in Buffalo with chapters in Hamilton and Toronto because hydro electrical power became available to public and private hospitals that were in close proximity to Tesla’s generators at Niagara Falls. Hospitals in Buffalo became famous worldwide by offering Tesla’s treatments and cures for the most serious of diseases and they could boast a very high success rate. This is where Tesla’s most famous statement originated:
“If you want to discover the secrets of the Universe, think in terms of energy, frequency, and vibration.”
Since the patents for the methods that were used on these devices were practically enforceable, and Tesla was not interested in defending them, a whole wave of useless electrotherapeutic devices soon came onto the market. They were mostly manufactured by charlatans and con men whom wanted to capitalize and prey upon a trusting public desperately looking for cures that their doctors could not supply.
Many devices were no more than just expensive powered boxes of flashing lights and moving meters in attractive hardwood casings. If they cured the patient at all, and they often did, it was the placebo effect – a belief from the patient that this new “electric” technology from Tesla could cure their incurable disease.
Tesla’s Violet Ray fused quartz electrotherapeutic device was so popular, a chain of gas stations were named after it!