Little Falls weekly transcript. (Little Falls, Morrison Co., Minn.) 1894-19??, 1897-07-16
ABUSES OF CHARITY.
ALLEGED WRONGS IN FREE oisPEN-
sARlEs TO BE PRoeE0.

ALLEGED WRONGS IN FREE o,sPEN-
sAR,Es TO Be PRo9Eo.
Committee From Medical League Wu
Ferret Out Unworthy Cases-A Move.
mont Elsewhere 70 Investigste tho sys-
tenn Of Medical Relief.
Tho Medical league, composed of ply.
sicians Of New York city and vicinity, re-
Gently decided to make a careful investiga-
ton Of the alleged abuses Of medical char
ity in the dispensaries and hospitals and to
publish the results, In order that doubters
may be convinced - 70 the existence Of the
evil
The leagues committee ON charities, Of
which DR.. Frederick Sturges IL chairman,
will conduct the inquiry. Specific cases
will be taken up and the committee will
ascertain whether the recipients Of free
medical treatment were able to pay.
A practical inquiry Of this nature was
suggested some time ago, but the organiza-
tons that have taken . stand against
abuse Of tho dispensaries did not have funds
available to pay the cost Of such an inves-
tigation The Medicalleague has the funds
for this purpose, and work will be begun
at once The inquiry will DO conducted
privately, but tho results will be made
public.
A recent issue Of The British Medical
Journal shows that the dispenaary ques-
ton Is not confined to this country. A
lengthy memorial which the Hospital Re-
form association presented to the Royal
College Of Ply sicians Of London May Is
is published. The memorial sets forth in
some detail the manner In which the CIV
Ing Of indiscrilninate medical relief In the
London hospitals has increased OF late
years and points out the evil results. AS
the New York hospitals ore In q measure
following the lines laid down by the older
British hospitals the result OF their expert
ence should be Of interest here.
The mcmorialists, who number 220
practitioners, and include some Of the
foremost members Of the profession In
ENGLAND, make these statements:
"That the present system of administer
ing medical relief In tho out patient and
casualty departments at most hospitals in
inflrmaries Of the country Is ono fraught
with danger to the community at large,
and Is unjust both to the hospitals and to
the general body Of medical practitioners.
ITO the community at large, because
indiscriminatc medical relief Is demoral-
izinQ to those who receive it and Is likely
to increase the pauperisln Of the country.
1T is unjust to the hospitals because
their funds arc wusted on unworthy OBJ
jects. Moreover, the continuous increase
in the number of out patients necossitates
the expenditure Of large sums OF money
in enlarging the accommodation necessary
for their reception. That such an expen-
diture ofton entails the reduction of the
accommodation for the in patients may be
stated as q fact.
ut is unjust to tho general body Of
practitioners who are not officially con-
nected with hospitals because they are
deprived Of patients whose means would
warrant their employment Of private prao-
titioners. In connection with this point
1t may be mentioned that the establish
ment Of cheap dispensaries can reasonably
be put down to the competition of the hos
pitfalls. That the existence Of such dis
pensaries is to be deplored every right
minded medical man will agree.
Line lO6nOrlullSI6 6JtlUo UllttU OIlC AuOI
in the number of out patients treated each
year has been entirely disproportionate to
the increase in population. The inoroase In
out patients and casualty cases in London
hospitals in ten years is given as 32l, O6b
patients.
A report signed by Sir William Jenner,
Sir william Gull, Sir William Ferguson
and other members Of tho British Medical
association is quoted and in it this state
ment is made:
"Your memorialists arc convinced that
the manner in which the hospitals and free
dispensaries throughout the kingdom arc
conducted inflicts a serious injury upon
many most deserving members Of our pro-
fession, while the indiscriminate, or almost
indiscriminate, bestowal of gratuitous
medical relief upon all applicants lowers
the whole scale of our professional re1nu-
neration, is far from being real boon to
the working classes themselves and cannot
fail in the long run to have q projudicial
influence upon the nation at large. Elk