The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1886-04-17
1T PAYS DOCTORS TO CURE.
FalIacy OF a Common Belief Clearly IL
pOsed-Experiments on Patients.


baltimore Americana
''Do doctors ever practice on their
PATIENTS"
The above question was asked of a
prominent physician a few evenings
since. The number of physicians of
sense and reputation, = he replied. who
experiment on their patients is quite
small. Indeed, do not know such q
practitioner. There is a very errone-
Gus impression among the middle and
lower classes Of persons on this point
Nothing is more common than to hear
some one say, why, l wouldn't
think Of going to a doctor. When
they once get hold of you they'll
never let go. No general state
ment could be farther from the truth
1t is to the best interests of a physician
to cure the one upon whom he Is in at
tendance, because every cure he effects
increases the confidence reposed in him
Almost every day some new disease or
some hitherto unknown manifestation
of disease is developed in practice, and
it is not surprising, therefore, that even
the best equipped and most experienced
doctor is compelled to occasionally grOpe
around in the materia medica before he
finds the proper remedy. But the suS-
picion of the desire for experimenting is
so uppermOst in the mind of the average
patient that it would be difficult to i'm
pose upon him, even if it was so de-
sired.
What kind of patients are easiest to
attend tor was asked
Women. They will believe any
thing you tell them.
In great majority of instances they
IL fax-
than their alleged superiors, the lords
of creation. They have the most pro-
found hope of recovery A man, on the
other hand, is apt to break down; go to
pieces, as we say. 1t is a fact that more
women than men, physical conditions
being relatively equal, recover from dis
cases where endurance, pluck and pa
thence and freedom from Worriment are
the chief essentials of a cure. 1t has
been my experience that one woman
who has been thoroughly cured, and
knows it, will bring to her medical
adviser ten times as many good cases as
ten of the most grateful men who have
been similarly rescued. .
Are there many patients who neglect
to pay"
THAT depends on the nature of the
practice. Usually the rich are more
prompt in settling the bills of their doc
tor than they are IN paying the bills con
tracted in any other way. Perhaps it
is because they are so big it makes them
feel proud to pay them. But, taking
the case of a physician WHO has mixed
practice, and it IS usual to lose about 20
per cent. of the fees through bad bills;
sometimes the percentage is greatly in
creased especially in times OF cpl
denies"
What is the average income of
physician asked the reporter
1T is hard to strike an average
However, l think it would be near the
figure to say that the average income Of
a well-established physician in the city
is $4,000 a year. But there is hardly
any profession where the fees are so
variable. Since human gratitude
for saving life is so great it
not infrequently happens that $50,
600 is paid in single cases as
fees. The average income of the country
usually requires five years of close atten-
ton to business to establish a good
practice. Young doctors find that a
little experience in the hospitals before
settling down in an Office is a great help
to them in this regard. The fees of
physicians vary from 81 to $25 visit
do not think the profession would
look with favor or any proposition to
lower the present rates, but there is
strong disposition to abbreYiate in some
way the great army Of graduates in
medicine that are annually gound out
of the colleges, and it is likely that, at
a not far distant day, the standard of
the colleges in the United States will be
forced up to that of the German uni
versities of medicine. This would
reduce the number Of
graduates.
do you think that medicine will
eventually be able to successfully cope
with every kind of disease
Il am not at all certain about that.
But l would not put myself on record
as denying that such time may come
The practice of medicine has undergone
revolutions since its estab-
lishment. Other equally wonderful
revolutions are to come. While l believe
that some methods will ultimately be
discovered for arresting the progress of
every disease, no matter how mortal,
as now considered, do not put much
confidence in the theory entertained in
some quarters that anything can ever be
done to replace part or organ of the
human body which has been actually
1eadened, destroyed or obliterated. For
it will not be possible to re
store to vitality lung yitiated by con-
or to supply a new gizzard in
place of one consumed by malady.
But if such things are within the realm
Of the possible, then there is no doubt
that human life can be Indefinitely pro-
onged."
Old Cheese in Germany.