Missing the forest for the trees in biomedical research: the example of noma.

Month after month passed after the outbreak of the epidemic, without the higher governmental authorities taking the least notice of its occurrence. Autumn had gone, winter was approaching and with it the spectres of hunger and cold—nothing was done. Finally, small sums of money were granted for direct distribution to the needy, but the red tape of the bureaucracy was such, even in this, that they requested detailed receipts on the distribution of the money which was supposed to be given out in the smallest of amounts, so as to be able to submit them to the general auditing chamber. Finally, the press began to broadcast, through Prussia and the whole of Germany, the inconceivable and incredible happenings in Upper Silesia. –Rudolf Virchow, “Report on the Typhus Epidemic in Upper Silesia”