John P Peters (1887–1955): McCarthyism and the Unfinished Revision of Quantitative Clinical Chemistry

Abstract

John P Peters is considered one of the founders of modern clinical chemistry. In more than 200 research articles, he brought clinical biochemistry to the bedside, advancing the use of laboratory medicine in diagnosis and disease management. His two-volume landmark textbook Quantitative Clinical Chemistry, coauthored with Donald Dexter van Slyke (1883–1971) and released in 1931–1932, defined clinical chemistry as a distinct professional discipline within medicine. A three-volume revision was begun in 1937. Peters took on the task of revising Volumes I and II but never finished Volume II. His outspoken public advocacy for social reform, world peace, and universal health care made him a target in the era of McCarthyism. Three times between 1949 and 1953 he was brought before the Loyalty Review Board with charges of being a communist and a sympathetic supporter of subversive organizations. According to his family, the turmoil of the McCarthyism persecution shortened his life and prevented him from completing the one thing he wanted to do in his professional life, finish the revision of his landmark clinical chemistry textbook.