Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1905-06-06
THE PUBLIC HEALTH
INTERESTING PAPER READ BY
DR.. L. J. BAKER BEFORE MED.
lcAL ASSOCIATION.

state Convention Held In Des Molnes
I Suggestions for the Improvement
OF the Public Hyglene-shouId Edu.
cate People.
The society should take some &C.
ton toward the education of the peo-
pie along the line of public health or
else repeal the law in our state con.
sututton that requires a committee on
public policy and legislation" is one
!, oL the statements made by DR.. l.. ].
Baker Of this city in an interesting
paper read before the recent meeting
OF the Iowa Medical association at
Des Moines. The paper in full is as
follows.
The trend Of human desire today
as in olden time is towards the re-
moval Of the mote from our brothers.
eye rather than the beam from our
own. The doings Of brother and his
family, or the condition Of his house,
stable, lot, or alley and the drainage
therefrom require much Of the atten-
ton We spare from bread winning and
the storing Of treasure. 1t is SO much
easier and pleasanter to teach by an
unbridled tongue than by practiceand
besides, our audience is much larger
and more appreciative. We are prone
to study the art of the mixer for the
purpose of increasing. our. business
rather than for the purpose Of improv-
ing the. sanitary condition of the com.
munity and increasing its healthful-
ness and happiness according to the
precepts OF the religion, Of which we
on sundry occasions boast. We come
to the Mount of Des Moines every
year, OF to some other equally sacred
mount and start the fire Of Public
Health and as soon as 1t burns sufa-
ciently to show some light we cover it
with bushel to prevent our brethren
from seeing the beam. In our eye.
Here for an hour or two every year
we talk public health, we extol the
benefits to be derived by the masses
from sanitation and the observance
of certain regulations for the proven
ton and the spreading Of diseases.
And we do!this with SO much energy
! and with such zeal, that at times
have been almost convinced that we
actually believed in it ourselves, par
ticularly while in this sacred retreat.
But as soon as the bushel Is lowered,
that Is, the burning truths enunciated
are buried in the bound volume of
proceedings, the champagne of enthu-
siasm sinks into It's long, heavy, an
nual sleep, and we again become mix
ers and are absorbed in everything
except public health. Our motto
again reads, Eve study to please"
We are hale fellows we'll met" to our
patients instead Of being opponents
81 the truths of science as they have
been revealed to us through study and
experience. We arc prone to crafty
the desires OF the family or patient
50 long as the welfare of the patient
Is not jeopardized even If at times, 1t
Is at the expense OF the public health.
80 often the truth about the nature
OF disease interferes with the fan
cied liberties Of a family of influence
that some physicians are found will
Ing to suppress 1t with or without a
reward in order to please and retain
their patronage. Consequently case
OF scarlet fever is called by them an
erythema or possibly very mild scar
let rash; case of smallpox an attack
OF Cuban itch; and a case of dipth-
iberia mild pharyngitis. The family
IS then given to understand that 1t
would be best for them to keep the
patient in the house and say nothing
about the trouble and that in a few
days the children may return to school
again" We do not wish to be under.
stood as saying that all physicians act
IN this manner for verify believe that
there are more honest physicians than
there are clergymen or lawyers. 1t
is the wolves in sleeps clothing to
whom refer; that class of physician
who, even without the aid of anti
toxin, lose less than one per cent of
their cases of diphtheria and whose
cases OF scarlet fever are we'll and
ready to be released even when in
quarantine In from ten to twenty DAYS
from the date of the first symptom.
Of course it must be admitted that
sometimes such talk and actions are
the result Of ignorance but we are
quite sure that it is more often from
mercenary motives. Some of these
physicians have received fair gen.
eral and medical education but, I'M
fortunately for the public interest,
truth is stranger than fiction" to
them. In the tongue of the neurolo.
gist they would be called degenerates.
But like many other types of degen.
crates who claim to heal diseases
they have the freedom OF, the country
and are spoken Of by many as gen
fuses in the medical world.
Boards of Health.
It would be highly interesting and
Instructive, If we could have the &C
tual morbidity statistics of our state
Tor the past five years SO that we
might know the per cent of illness
due to preventable diseases; and learn
how many physicians report quaran-
Unable diseases to. the board of health
and the efficiency Of the latter in pro-
tecting the public from them and other
preventable diseases. From the last
report from the secretary of the state
board of health we learn there were
IN 1902, 12,4s7 deaths in this state.
During the same time there were re-
ported to him 1928 cases of illness
from preventable diseases. resulting