The morning call., 1890-06-29
Is IT D1sGRAoEFuL TO ADVERTISE ?

The State Medical Society of Pennsyl-
vania has Disciplined one of its members by
refusing to allow him to participate in the
exercises of its annual session, on the
ground that he had violated professional
ethics by advertising in a newspaper his
method Of treatment and accompanying the
advertisement with his portrait. The vic
tim denied that he had published either
article or portrait, and asserted that both
had been obtained surreptitiously and with
out his consent by the enterprising journal
which published them. But this plea may
be disregarded as not germane to the real
issue in the case. The question really in
volved is whether medical man is detarred
by professional etiquette from using the or
binary means of bringing to public notice his
claims for support. A trader is not regarded
as demeaning himself if he advertises his
wares; is it of the essence of professional
calling that he who follows it shall leave
the public to find out his merits by public
report and conversations bet ween man and
man?
Medical societies reach their conclusions
on the advertising question by sylloglsm
which is faulty in logic. They say that a
regular physician should beware Of getting
himself classed among quacks; that ouacks
advertise; therefore, regular physicians
should not. They might just as we'll say
that as Quacks wear boots regular physl-
clans should 60 barefoot to show that they
are not Quacks There is another rule of
the profession which has been in force for
centuries, and with which every medical
student is familiar 1t is the rule which
requires the discoverer of a new cure Tor
disease TO make his discovery public with
out delay for the benefit of humanity. The
question now arises how can the discOverer
of a new cure for disease make his diScov-
cry known? Doctors say that he should
communicate it TO the regular medical jour
nails But these publications, though I'M
QuesIiOnably valuable, reach limited class
Of readers. Even p physicians in good prac-
tice often fail to find time to read them.
Every one who has been so unfortunate as
to need medical advice has noticed piles Of
medical magazines and journals lying un-
opened and unread on tables and floor.
If a man discovers an undoubted cure for
consumption or cancer, the discovery will
be apt to pass from mouth to mouth until it
becomes generally known. But alert minds
are constantly lighting upon new thoughts
which assist in the cure of disease, without
being absolute cures. New processes in
surgery, new views in therapeutics, new
lights in diagnosis, are being constantly
evolved, and from the habtual shrinking
from publicity which marks the average
doctor, often remain unknown to the pro-
| fession. Country doctors sometimes know
of short and easy remedies of which they
enjoy a monopoly, because it would be
| mira dig. to let the village newspaper know
that obstil ate cases of fever may some
times be cured by the poisoned honey of the
| honey bee.
Two OF three things have been made clear
in this country One is that proprietary
medicine, if compounded of the right in
| gradients, will do much to relieve human
suffering and viii make a fortune for its
owner, if it be sufficiently and judiciously
| advertised. Another is that doctor who
! understands his profession will probably
secure an army of patients and multitude
OF fees. if he throws down the gauntlet to
| the medical societies and boldly fills column
after column OF the newspapers with ac-
counts Of his skill and Of the cures he has
effected. The profession will denOunce
him as a Quack; but he will come to bear
the epithet with furtitude if his anteroom
| if full of patients and his pocket full OF
! dollars. And, be it remembered, if he be a
! man of skill in his branch, so that he
really does effect cures, and fights disease
successfully, he will derive further con-
ISOLATION from the thought that he is doing
| more good in his day and generation than
his more scrupulous brethren who hide
| their light under bushel.
We all live and learn. 1t is only hun
| bred years since HanSard was sent to jail
for daring tG print debates in Parliament;
in our day, when the Austrian Reichsrath
| threatened to eXpel a reporter for libel,
the whole newspaper contingent threatened
| to withdraw. and the ReichSrath made
| haste to conciliate them for fear of not
| being reported. So, only few years ago,
in this country, it was considered excess
siyely impertinent in the New York Herald
to describe the dresses of ladies at a Sara
toga ball; now reporters of social events
would be considered unkind if they failed
to describe dresses. Possibly, the torch of
progress may some day invade the dark
portals of the temple of medical science.