The times. (Owosso, Mich.) 1882-1897, 1889-01-11
TIE Pay OF PHYSICIANS.
4 Chicago Doctor Says tho Fees Arc
Smaller There Than Elsewhere.

Chicago Doctor Says tho Fees Arc
Smaller There Than Elsewhere.
THE reports Of the splendid fees
paid DR. Mackenzie for his attendance
upon the emperor of Germany are read
with interest by doctors all over the
civilized world. and by none more at
tentivcly than the Chicago men. said
a well known physician. 'Of course
in this particular case the patients ex
allied rank made Mackenzie's pay much
larger than usual Nevertheless, had
the patient been u private individual
instead Of sovereign Mackenzie'sp
ment would have been many times
greater than any Chicago man would
have received for exactly the same
work in this city Take the opera
ton Mackenzie performed with the
forceps. Here a man would have
received about $l5 or 500 for it. An
other operation which tho crown
prince endured -tracheotomy-Chi
cago men charge 500 for The fee
bill established in 1878 has undergone
little if any change. The maximum
and minimum charge for every opera
ton i'm surgery and general practice is
specified in it, There are q few men
here who can in their regular practice
ask higher prices than the maximum
rates. but you can count them on the
fingers Of one hand. There are cases
in which the grateful patient adds
something To the bill, but you may put
it down Us fact that large fees are
nearly unknown to the rank and file
of the profession. Amputation of the
thigh is fixed at from SIS to $500. A
good fec would he $3.50 For the
removal Of cataract we arc allowed to
ask $50 to $500. About 800 is what
the best oculists expect. A New York
man would get about $500. The late
Dr. Agncw left the fee To his patient.
bat never took less than $500. Ere
quently he received $1,000. Nor are
the New York men. who charge from
three to five times more. tho only ply.
sicians whose fees are scaled higher
than ours.
In the south physicians are better
paid. In St. Louis the earnings of the
leaders are rich. So also is tho case in
the west You cannot find in those
localities men Of wide renown such as
we have here who make visits for 81
and consult in their offices for ST."
How large are tho yearly earnings
of the leaders in this cityY"
Considerable has been published
upon that point that is wide of the
facts. There arc, think, not over
half dozen men whose income from
their practice exceeds $4,000 or $12,-
600. They are men of the widest rep
utation who have been years in build.
ing up practice among class of
people that will pay little above the
usual rates. Moreover they are men
of sufficient business ability to sue
coed in other walks of life. If they
have grown rich it is out OF shrewd
investments, not practice. There are
large number who earn on the scale
from, say, $4,000 down to $4,000.
Physicians consider themselves in
good practice If they collect S., 900 a
year. There are in the city about 400
regulars or allopathics, the same num-
Der of homeopathy, and from 1000 TO
1900 doctors OF other schools-in ali
about 1000. This may seem a small
number for q city of nearly 800, 900
people. On the contrary, it is large
number. The great majority earn far
below $4,000. Many make less than
81 900 per annum. OF course, energy,
push and close attention to work will
earn q man livelihood in medicine
Chicago Tribune.