["Treating mankind honestly": medical innovation between market, public and science around 1800]

This contribution is based on a case study of Professor Gottfried Christian Reich (1769-1848) of Erlangen, who in 1799 published what he considered to be an infallible method of curing any illness associated with a fever. This paper shows how in the course of a published debate the focus shifted from a medico-scientific issue to a moral one. Furthermore, the experiments carried out at Berlin's Charité hospital by order of the Prussian Medical Authority illustrate how the public debate had an effect on the assessment of the empirical evidence produced. Overall, this case study demonstrates that we can use the history of a medical innovation as a means to highlight the interconnections between medical science, the public, and the market.