Heroic medicine is a term for aggressive medical practices or methods of treatment, and usually refers to those which were later superseded by scientific advances.

During the Age of Heroic Medicine (1780-1850), educated professional physicians aggressively practiced "heroic medicine," including bloodletting (venesection), intestinal purging (calomel), vomiting (tartar emetic), profuse sweating (diaphoretics) and blistering. Physicians originally treated diseases like syphilis with salves made from mercury. These medical treatments were well-intentioned, and often well-accepted by the medical community, but were actually harmful to the patient. Bloodletting (or blood-letting, in modern medicine referred to as phlebotomy) was a popular medical practice from antiquity up to the late 19th century, involving the withdrawal of often considerable quantities of blood from a patient in the belief that this would cure or prevent illness and disease. ... Mercury(I) chloride (chemical formula Hg2Cl2, often still known by its ancient name of calomel) is a chloride of mercury, a heavy, white or yellowish-white substance. ... Vomiting (or emesis) is the forceful expulsion of the contents of ones stomach through the mouth. ... A diaphoretic is a drug which increases perspiration. ... Syphilis (historically called lues) is a sexually transmitted disease (STD) that is caused by a spirochaete bacterium, Treponema pallidum. ... General Name, Symbol, Number mercury, Hg, 80 Chemical series transition metals Group, Period, Block 12, 6, d Appearance silvery white Atomic mass 200. ...

The death of George Washington, on December 14, 1799, may have partially resulted from shock from blood-letting. George Washington (February 22, 1732–December 14, 1799) was the successful Commander in Chief of the Continental Army in the American Revolutionary War from 1775 to 1783, and later became the first President of the United States, an office to which he was twice elected unanimously, and held from 1789... December 14 is the 348th day of the year (349th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar. ... 1799 was a common year starting on Tuesday (see link for calendar). ...

Today, the term is used by some alternative healers for any aggressive conventional medical practice or method of treatment that they perceive as making people suffer, get sick, get weak and run down and/or die. Branches of alternative medicine provides a master list of the articles included in this alternative medicine (CAM) series of articles. ...

Physicians do not dispute that conventional medicine such as surgery sometimes causes side effects despite delivering benefits to patients. But they stress that while alternative medicine such as homeopathy has no side effects whatsoever, there is also no evidence of benefits to patients. The word physician should not be confused with physicist, which means a scientist in the area of physics. ... A typical modern surgical operation For other uses, see Surgery (disambiguation). ... Samuel Hahnemann, the father of homeopathy Homeopathy (also spelled homœopathy or homoeopathy) from the Greek words όμοιος, hómoios (similar) and πάθος, páthos (suffering), is a system of alternative medicine. ...

Some alternative healers have called chemotherapy and radiation therapy "the heroic medicine of the modern era", despite studies showing the effectiveness of these treatments[1] [2]. Branches of alternative medicine provides a master list of the articles included in this alternative medicine (CAM) series of articles. ...