The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1893-11-08
PAYING DEAR FOR DRUGS.
The City'S Contract for Medicines
Costing More Than The DiSpenSaIy.

Last Months Charity Prescriptions
Foot UP $500, Or at the Rate of
$4,000 Year-The Dispensary
Maintained at an Annual Outlay Of
SO, 5oo-More Charity Prescriptions
Filled Now Than Under the Dispen-
sary Plan.
The city's charity drug bill is increas-
ing at an alarming rate. It's well known,
at least to a good many people, that the
city has an arrangement by which people
who are too poor to pay for their medi-
cines can have the prescriptions filled at
any one Of several drug stores, with which
the city has contracts for furnishing
drugs This work was formerly done
through the city dispensary, but
the dispensary was abolished last
spring after a fight had been waged
against it, that it was a political snap,
and was costing the city a great deal
more than it ought to.
From present indications, according to
the statement of a health department
official, the new arrangement is likely to
cost the city nearly twice as much as the
dispensary did. The cost of the dispen-
y
The city's prescription bill last month
was $500, or at the rate of $751; 900 year.
GOOD FOR THE POOR PEOPLE.
The people appear to have caught on to
the new arrangement, and are working it
for all it is worth
The dispensary was abolished in April,
and contracts were made with seven drug
stores in different parts of the city to fill
charity prescriptions at certain rate.
Not only prescriptions issued by the city
physicians are filled, but any
to give an order for the filling
of prescription for charity patient,
who, in his Judgment is unable to pay for
it. 1t appears, according to a city official,
that some of the physicians have been
putting rather liberal interpretations
upon the charity prescriptions clause, APP
pearing to consider as charity. patients
people who are not able to pay for pre-
scriptions, but are still able to pay doc
tors fees.
Health Officer Drummer has discovered
several instance where physicians have
collected fees from patients who were
given orders upon the city drug stores for
charity prescriptions.
AN INVESTIGATION TO BE HAD.
He will bring this matter to the atten-
ton of the authorities, and some of the
physicians are likely to hear from it.
The health officer has also been sur
prised to ind the names of people who are
not considered subjects of charity by
any means on the list of those receiving
free prescriptions.
1t is probably not known to these people
that full list of all charity prescriptions,
with the name of the physician giving
the prescription and that of the party to
whom 1t IS furnished, is forwarded every
month to the health officer.
Since the bills have begun to run up so
he has been scrutinizing these lists more
closely, and he has discovered several curl
Gus things. One is that certain physicians
give al their orders to some particular
drug store, without regard to the section
Of the city in which their patients are
situated. Patients living in one section
OF the city are given orders upon drug
store in an entirely different section, when
there are several other drug stores nearer
upon which the orders could be given.
REFORM NEEDED.
DR. Drummer thinks the city's free drug
bill entirely too high, and he pro-
poses to take steps to cut it down
In his opinion a properly conducted dis
pensary is the most satisfactory arrange
ment the city can make, and he may rec
Ommend a return to the dispensary sys-
ten next year. DR. Drummer admits that
the old dispensary was not what it should
have been by any means, but he sees no
reason why a city dispensary should not
be satisfactorily and economically con-
Quoted