The record-union., 1894-07-06
FEES OF PHYSICIANS.
What a Former Surgeon-General of
the U. 5. Army Has to Say.

What FORMER SurSSOn-Oeu0Fat VI
the U. 5. Army Has to Say.
What should a doctor be paid? This
question is answered in the North -4Deera-
can Reu4ew by DIR. HAMMOND of Wash
ington, formerly Surgeon-General OF the
United States Army.
.rrhe physician" says DR.. Hammond,
sswhose labors are more onerous than
those either of the clergy or the lawyer,
whose services are of. such confidential
and personal nature that mere money IS
q most inadequate return, IS generally
and / use the word generally auvisedly)
paid grudgingly, and often his modest ac-
count is cut down by the false plea OF
poyerty to a sum that nothing but the
consciousness that he must either take
that or 90 without causes him to receive.
/ have known people in comfortable and
even in a1fluent circumstances put on
their shabbiest clothes and assume their
most melancholy expression for the pur-
pose Of advancing the plea OF being IN
limited means, when they made pro-
fessionaI visit TO a physician; and when
they had protited by the dlsgrace1ui SUP
terfuge, brag to their friends OF their sue
cess in beating the doctor.
II know OF man whose wealth, at
moderate estimate, is S25, 600, who
gives over $4,000 a year TO his church,
and S25. 900 to his lawyers sometimes
much more than this, who fares sump-
tously every day; and yet who, when
called upon to pay his physician, lays the
notes on the table, still keeping his I'M
gers on them. and in the course OF con-
yersation puts them back into his pocket,
and again laws them on the table with
lingerlng hands, and finally watches
them with avaricious eyes. as he backs
himself out of the consulting room. l
nave known another whose child had
been saved from death by diphtherla, by
the constant care of the physician day
and night, and who, when modest Pc
ouniarV claim was made, sent the note
hack with demand for the items, and
them. when the physician Indignantly re-
called his memorandum and made him
q Dresent of the amount charged, accepted
the Gift. and exchanged his physician for
q lower priced man. And yet this lndl-
vidual ut would be libel on the race TO
call him Inan) was receiving an income
of over 500, 900 year, and Lifted up MS
voice every Sunday before one oi the
HIGHEST priced preachers in the city OF
New ork.
ssThat the medical man should make
his fees bear some relation to the means
of his patient is matter that seems emil
nantly lust and proper. Physicians do
GREAT deal of work for which they receive
very little money, and more stl1 ior
which they get nothing at all. For THIS
fha rich should in part pay; it is unjust
that the physician alone should bear the
hrnr,t. The value of medical services is
aiyVavs great. and it is only the rich who
can IroNerly compensate the physician
||-ho rrandars them. When the same serv-
ices are oiyeif,to a poor person, 1t is I'M
,,ossibIe that they can be adequately re-
warded. and hence smaller ices are cheer-
fully received. 1t is yeaiiy not that tne
rich are charged more, cut that the poor
are charged less.
ssTt would seem right that medical ices
should be arranged upon the basis OF the
patlent being worth a certain amount
isav a hundred thousand dollars), ana
that the honorarium, II we choose 10 use
the term. should be adjusted accordingly,
being more or less as the wealth OF the
patient was greater or less than tne sum
liked upon.
beginning addressed the patient some
thing after this manner:
"sYou have asked me to tell you the
truth as / understand IL. Well, you are
affected with one of the most lntractaDle
diseases known to medical science. Your
physicians have made correct diagnosis
and have treated you with skill IN accord
anee with the most advanced ideas OF
those who have given exclusive attention
IN sncb affections. I do not say that l
can cure you; on the contrary, the proba-
bility is that nothing / can do Will be OF
any material service to you. But there
is lust a glimmering of hope that can,
AZ any rate, arrest the further progress OF
your disease and prolong your life IN
comparative comfort for the next ten
wears. Now, 1 am willing to try. on
consideration that if l succeed you shall
Give me fee of half a million dollars. Ii
fail YOU shall pay me nothing. l have
. nlan of treatment which l have pub
Ished in medical journals, brought be-
fore medical societies and described
in detail before my classes III medi-
cal colleges. But the profession accepts
new ideas slowly, and many OF its mem
hers. as they have done in former days,
and as is now constantly done with
Greater men than /, abuse me in unmeas-
ured terms as visionary and an empirlc
las If we were not all empires, and as II
| the best physician is not the best emplrlcl.
| I propose to try this system OF treatment.
| NAV not succeed, but at any rate you
will be no worse than you are now, and II
under its use your disease Is cured or ar
rested in its progress. you shall give me
one-sixth of your fortune
s'Of course physicians do not talk In
this manner to their patients, but law
vers and business men frequently act III
strict accordance with such a. proposal,
and their clients and co-operators agree
To its nroyisions without hesitation.
ar is safe to say that no man suffering