The Superior times. [volume] (Superior, Wis.) 1870-1912, 1885-03-14
DOCTORS FURIOUS.
Shall Physician Tel the Truth or
NotAA Nice Point in Ethics.
N Sensible Health Official.

BALTIMORE, MD.-A decided Str has been
caused mere over the question as TO the right
O. physician 10 ccgtify to the merits OF Il
remedy not in the modern pharmacopu in
III James A. Steuart, one of the most emf
Htht physicians IN the South, and Health
commissioner of this city, had ana wed
newly dis, oyered article, and certified Off
ca ~, not only t. its efficacy but to the fact
'HHt II replaced o d-tiHe preparations OF Il
sliAliar character which. ana Uses had proved,
we're hlulterated and poisonous. The Medi-
c"l ana Chlrurg cal Faculty, of which he is a
mchber, held that he had violated the code
u h-ealcaI ethics, and much public interest
was aroused because of the CO nfidenCe felt
both in his professional standing and Official
integrity
1t was argued that 10 thus place limita.
tlon on he acts of physician, and espec ally
VI heaith oihcer, " as opposed To the spirit
OF the age; that such reasoning might have
been logical enough when il was TO the inter
EST or rulers or soc cites to invest themselves
with a supernatural halo, but now when
thought should he free and untrammeled
such lh.ngs sayOred of barbarism. 1t was
the duty OF physician, especially of health
oEccr, TO condemn pubijly any remedy
Wh.ch nc knew to be injurious, but it was not
r!ght 10 say that he should he deEarrod from
TESTIFY ing 10 the mer Is OF anything which he
knew TO tie good. If this were so, the wor d
would not receive the benefit of half the dis
coVeries made in art or science. Thus the
people argued, while the faculty threatened
expulsion and talked of time-houored Gus
toms, ethics, profess onal courtesy, and ira
ditiOnS.
But the matter soon assumed wv and
surprising phase. A few days afterwards
cert ileate appeared in the daily papers ear
ing the autograph signatures o. Gov
ernor McLane, Attorney General Roberts,
Mayor Latrobe, City Postmaster fdrcou.
chiefs Of State and municipal departments.
Judges and Clerks of Courts Federal officials
and Congressman, emphaticaIly endorsing
the action Of the Health Commission and
concurriug in his opinion as to the efficacy of
tn remedy asserting that they did so from
personal experience with il and practical
tests and observations
There could be no gainsayiny such evil
dcnce as this, but, as if to cap the climax,
shortly afterwards there appeared another
certificate with autograph signatures Of
leading practicing physicians from all part
OF the State. including the physicians of al
the leading hospitals, the physician TO the City
Fire Department, the port physician, vaccine
physician, and resident physicians OF iufirm-
aries, all endorsing the discovery and stating
that II had been tested by them in hos
pitais and private practice for weeks with
wonderful curative effect, and that anay-
SIS had shown no trace OF Opiutcs or poisOns
prevalent in other Cou yb mixtures. The
further stated that they had been induced to
take this step in view of the many hurtfu
preparations which contained narcotics and
poiSons, and Of TIE danger consequent IN
their use. The remedy in question is Red
star Cough Cure. Such a conclusive answer
as this 10 the narrow arguments OF the few,
arraycd public sentiment on the side OF the
Health Commissioners. and it is significant
that DR.. Steuart has since been appointed to
on &c by the Mayor for third term, ana has
had lis appointment unanimously confirmed
by the City Council.
Owing to the high professional reputation
OF the gentlemen who endorsed his action. as
we'll as the cRvabe staining of the
owners of the remedy, The Charles 4. Vogeler
Company, Of this city, widespread interest
has already been created in the subject not
only here, but IN Philadelphia Washington
and other nefghboring cities. The feeling
is generally expressed by professional. men
that Red star Cough Cure on account
Of its freedom from narcotics and poisons
maugurates most dcs.Fab new dep8r
ture in medicine. This is the pronounc-
ed opinion of authorities like DR.. Faw-
cctt who has been for thirty-three years
resident physician of the Mon Protestant
Infrmary, III this city, and Prof. John J. Cald-
well, VI. D., member of medical societies of
Baltimore, New York, and Br, okIyn, and
with a long experience in civil and military
hospitals. Both of these gentlemen, together
with no less than fifty other practiCing ply
scians of Maryland, have publicly put them
selves on record rs to the evil Of narcotic
medicines and the consequent value ami i'm
portanCe of the new discovery referred to. Il
is conceded that public oTiniCn has com
pictey indicated Or. Steuart in his act on,
ami that IN his whole course he was actuatnd
simply by an earnest desire to benefit the
community q large.