Morning journal and courier., 1883-05-02
Wednesday, May 2. 1883.
DIsAGREEING DOCTORS.

DASAGfShE OOCVOESSs
 The physicians of ''the old school' in the State of New York seem to be divided into hostile parties known as the 'regulars'' and the ''irregulars.' This division has arisen upon the question as to whether consultations with homeopathic physicians shall be per- mited, the irregulars'' being in favor of such consultations and the regulars oppos- ed to them. The new code of professional ethics adopted by the medical society of that State permits such consultations, but the New York Academy, the leading medical society of the city of New York. declines to be governed by the State association, and last week after stormy discussion" passed a resolution declaring that no physician known to be in favor of consultations with homoopaths should in future be eligible to membership.
 It is not very difficult to fores ee the result of such contest. The exclusive etiquette of the different schools must in the end yield to the liberal spirit of the times The interest of the profession, to say nothing of that of patients, points in the direction of reconcili- ation. The fact that there are two schools of practice so irreconcilably hostile that they cannot consult is hardly creditable to medicine as a science. There are men of eminence and learning in both the All lopathic and the Homeopathic schools, and the fact that men of eminence regard each other s methods with such suspicion that they can not meet in sick chamber tends to destroy confidence in remedies as whole The lay man can of course understand how scientific men can have honest differences of opinion, but it will be hard for him to see why they should disagree so about every case that neither can assist the other and that both to- gether cannot assist him. A consultation would in any case seem to him to imply D possibility of difference of opinion. If the consulting physician is as matter of course to agree with the views of the physician ai- ready called, it is hard to see why a consulta- tion is needed at all It is by a comparison of conflicting views in the individual case, as in general, that science gains, It will always seem to the laynan that men of genuine learning who entertain opposite views could, if they would, learn something of each other and that if they would it might be of adyan- tage to him. Indeed, it is the interest of the sick which makes the strongest de. mand in favor of professional harmony.
 The members of a learned profession so nec- essary to society as that of medicine cannot regard themselves as men engaged in trade merelyto make aliving, but rather as benefac- tors of the race, as men possessed of a fund of knowledge on which everyone has the right to draw. If a sick man has employed the veriest of quacks that ought to furnish no excuse to truly liberal physician for refus- ing to tell the patient what he ought to do to save his life. The disagresmsnt between schools, however decided, ought not to inter fere with the physicians mission to heal the sick. The worse he may think of the oppo- site "pathy" the more eager he ought to be for an opportunity to help those who are sui feriDg under it's treatment. As true science is one and indivisible, true men of science cannot long remain apart Consultations be- tween the different schools can only be g question of time