RERELEASE: Episode 254: The Cutter incident - Part One

RERELEASE: Episode 254: The Cutter incident - Part One

From Disaster Area by Jennifer Matarese

February 27, 2026 · 1h 12m

About this episode

This episode discusses the Cutter incident and its implications on polio vaccination efforts.

NOTE: This was released in May of 2025, but due to life being what it is, I didn't get to finish the final two parts of the episode. So I am rereleasing this episode this week, and the next two weeks I will release the following two episodes. I have now officially backed myself in a corner and I simply MUST finish the episodes now. It would start with a headache, a fever, maybe a funny tummy. But soon enough your knee would give out, or your arm would hang limp, or you would struggle to breathe. You'd be taken to the hospital, where you'd get your diagnosis - polio. If you survived, you ran the risk of doing so with paralyzed limbs, struggling to walk on bulky leg braces. Your parents would be terrified they might lose you, and so everybody wanted the one thing that could stop all of this - a vaccine. Videos: New England Journal of Medicine: The Cutter Incident, 50 Years Later American Experience: The Polio Crusade The Iron Lung and Polio by M.Rockoff | OPENPediatrics Articles and books: Polio: An American Story , by David M. Oshinsky The Cutter Incident, by Dr. Paul Offit NEJM: The Cutter Incident

People in this episode

Host: Jennifer Matarese

Topics covered

  • polio
  • vaccines
  • medical history
  • public health
  • Cutter incident

Keywords

  • Cutter incident
  • polio
  • vaccine
  • public health
  • medical history

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: New England Journal of Medicine, American Experience, OPENPediatrics

Books & works: Polio: An American Story, The Cutter Incident

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