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Oral history interview with Vincent Dole, 1982

Creator: Dole, Vincent P. 1913-2006
Project: Addicts Who Survived oral history collection.
(see all project interviews)
Phys. Desc. :transcript: 75 pages sound file : digital preservation master, WAV files (96 kHz, 24 bit)
Location: Columbia Center for Oral History
Full CLIO record >>

Biographical Note

Vincent Dole was born on May 8, 1913 in Chicago, Illinois. He attended Culver Military Academy for high school, then graduated from Stanford University with a bachelor's degree in mathematics. He then began to pursue an advanced degree in mathematics at the University of Chicago, but soon decided to change paths, and transferred to the University of Wisconsin Medical School. After two years at Wisconsin, he transferred to Harvard medical school, where he completed his medical doctorate. After graduating, Dole interned at Mass General Hospital, then became a clinical researcher at Rockefeller University in 1941. In the spring of 1942, he became a naval officer, during which time he developed the copper-sulfate blood test. After leaving the Navy in 1946, he returned to Rockefeller University to conduct research on hypertension and obesity. He then became chairman of the Health Research Council’s Committee on Narcotics. Through this committee, he and Dr. Marie Nyswander developed a methadone maintenance program in the 1960s. Vincent Dole was interviewed for the project that led to the book Addicts Who Survived

Scope and Contents

In this interview, Vincent Dole discusses his career in the medical field, focusing on the creation and development of methadone maintenance. He discusses his path to becoming a doctor, and his interest in research over being a practicing physician. He recalls his time in the Navy in the 1940s, during which time he studied malaria and developed the copper-sulfate blood test. Dole discusses the clinical research he conducted at Rockefeller University on the topics of hypertension and obesity. He describes his chairmanship of the Health Research Council’s Committee on Narcotics. Dole discusses at length the research he performed with Dr. Marie Nyswander which led to the development of a methadone maintenance program. He describes opposition that the team faced from the Federal Bureau of Narcotics. He discusses his 1965 article in the Journal of the American Medical Association, "A Medical Treatment for Diacetylmorphine [Heroin] Addiction." He discusses his hypothesis of addiction as a metabolic disease, and compares it to other hypotheses of addiction such as social conditioning. Dole discusses the spread of methadone treatment programs across the country

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Access Conditions

Copyright by David Courtwright

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