The Portland daily press., 1882-02-16
Abuses in Medical Practice.
A Dissertation Worthy of Religious
Weekly.
PHILADELPHIA Press

We yield to no one in high respect for the
medical profession. We recognize the debt
which humanity owes to it, and we are free to
say that he is unworthy OF this era of ciViliza-
tion and progress who takes no pride in the
steady advance of profession with whose
ministrations life begins and ends, alasl too Of
ten with great suddenness. Bat we are not
blind to what we are forced to consider the
faults of some practitioners-not quack or herb
doctors, but graduates of honored institutions,
physicians in good standing,
1t has come to our knowledge that in ordina-
ry cases Of Group, thing not to be trihed with,
certainly, and yet not necessarily fatal if taken
in hand in time, argitnaentuna bacalinen is pre-
scribed In doses sufficient to staeger a horse
Sometimes the patient RECEIVERS, sometimes
succumbs, but recovery is more a matter of
good fortune than skill. The treatment Of
diphtheria is scarcely less heroic. Anlic1ts cu-
rig and in hoe sigTo Utnces are prescribed in
equal quantities. The ensuing retching is
frghtful. and with young patients, frequently
fatal. The most cautious practitioners give,
with a much better general average of success,
one part pdrtfceps crfn1inlS to three parts ON
mia Uinctt amor in port wine enough TO dissolve
and make palatable. Neuralgia, which is in
creasing with fearful strides, is too commonly
treated with polBlan1 Qtt naerltit ferat, supple
mented with lotion of mltItun1 IN paruo, or
even plaster of nal deSp erd1ldttnl placed over
the seat of pain. No professor in the Universi-
ty of Pennsylvania, Jefferson College or Hahn
emann College, valuing his reputation, would
advise for a severe case of strabismus such q
make-shift as Gef1i, Uidt, Utct; yet even that is
resorted to as though it were sovereign rem
edy.
In fairness it ought to be said that qutd pro
quo is rarely given now, but on the other hand
fuot c0Ium is prescribed almost without dis
elimination in febrile diseases. Menlento nlorS
is now rarely absent from the prescriptions Of
a certain class of physicians Of more practice
than merit. Where there is suspicion, how
ever slight. of pulmonary trouble, UuLnus i'm
nledicdbile-not found in any pharmacopBia,
from that of Valerius Cordus DOWNS 3 COM
mon thing, the patient being imperfeotly sus-
tanned to the end with strong drink. Worse
than this, if possible, the slightest cough Is
drenched with Uerbun1 sat. sap. and qltod erat
dea1OnStTd7duIl; or, If these be not within
easy reach, a hyperdermic injection of co1 pop
uli is administered This treatment might be
tolerated where public speakers are suffering
from acute bronchitis, demanding instant re-
lief but in ninety per cent of the cases 10 is in
defensible on any accepted theory of medical
practice. We do not undertake to exhaust the
category of abuses, but when we say that mems
sibi consciG recti is now generally rejected for
bolus of sit tibi terra leUis, where there is no
worse malady than bad case Of "hyp," we
think the enumeration may be brought to an
end.
We have no desire to alarm the public;
neither do we wish to hold pR IA 5hN who de-
Safg RON On the beaten track. Intelligent exper
iments are to be encouraged as in the interest
of science; but we submit that q pay patient
ought not, without his consent to be set up
for charity hospital or dissectlng room.