Clipping found in The Times published in Shreveport, Louisiana on May 4,1955.
Ochsner Cutter polio incident.
The grandson of Dr. Alton Ochsner, famed New Orleans surgeon, died today of bulbar polio eleven days after he received one shot of the Salk vaccine manufactured by the Cutter Laboratories. The little boy, Eugene Allen Davis Jr., 30 months old, died around 9 a.m. today. He developed the disease Sunday, eight days after being inoculated at his grandfather's Ochsner Foundation Hospital.
His death was the third reported among those who have received shots of the polio vaccine. The other deaths were those of two seven-year-old girls in Idaho. All three received shots of the Cutter vaccine which was withdrawn April 27 by the U. S. Public Health Service.
Doctors at the hospital who were in charge of the Davis boy's case said they were of the opinion that the vaccine was not responsible for the onset of the disease. Dr. Ochsner, who has been credited with saving many lives with his surgery, including golfer Ben Hogan's, was not available for comment. The boy was the son of Mr. and Mrs. Allen Davis. The father is public relations director at the Ochsner Hospital, a $5,000,000 institution that was opened just about a year ago. A spokesman for the hospital said as far as was known the boy shewed no signs of illness before or after receiving the shot until he was stricken Sunday morning. Dr. Ochsner, who is associated in cancer research at the hospital, is well-known also for his attacks on smoking as a possible cause of cancer.
Only last Friday, Davis, in a telephone conversation, said that he was not worried about the Cutter vaccine despite the government's action in withdrawing it. Louisiana State Department of Health authorities declined to comment on the Davis boy's death. They said they had sent the information to Washington. The boy was among a group of some 140 persons who were administered the Cutter vaccine by the hospital on a private basis. His was the only case reported so far among the group or among any others inoculated on a commercial basis in the state.
State health authorities said none of the Cutter vaccine was used in the inoculation program of first and second grade students in Louisiana. They said the serum by the Eli Lilly Co., was used. Two school children who received the Lilly shots have come down with polio. Both showed symptoms of polio either before or at the time they received the vaccine although the symptoms were not recognized then.
https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-times-ochsner-cutter-polio-incident/36056937/