Paralyzed by Progress: The Manufacturing Catastrophe of the Polio Vaccine

In April 1955, the United States celebrated the ultimate medical triumph: Jonas Salk had developed a vaccine that would finally eradicate the terror of polio. But within weeks of the massive national rollout, healthy children who received the shot began collapsing with paralysis. The vaccine was actively giving them the disease. This disaster, known as the Cutter Incident, was not a flaw in Salk...