Goldsboro weekly argus. [volume] (Goldsboro, N.C.) 1885-1909, 1905-02-02

Dear Doctor:
A copy of your circular letter
of January Goth, to the Medical Pro-
fesslon of this State, was handed me
at the post-officejust now, by mem
ber of the Duncombe County Medi-
cal Society, with the remark, "Have
you seen that foolishness?"
Your letter in effect condemns the
bill proposed by the Osteopaths of this
State, and calls on the medical pro-
fessIon to take united stand IN an
effort to defeat the bill lntIouuv.
in the Senate January 1y,n.
bill is as nearly as pusol' le an *
duplicate OF the ex -tIng law whlci.
creates the Stale Medical Society,
body polite, an YES it the power
to appoint a Dourd of Examiners
who snail pass on the qualifications
of men VINO desire to practice medi-
cine i'll Morn Carolina. Your letter
is too Ion quote in full, and such
will De u, tor The purpose of my
reply, Uu 10 take up separ-
atel, some statements you make in
this letItf.
First. A.. will be made at
this ees9l,,,. Legislature 'tO
secure sotne &. legislation for
o5teopath. ahst quack doctors
desiring 10 Il euicine in
n nth CarOIill; l.. .hiS statement
YOU evidently y, ., ktd d decision
of the ouprem "a.t III the case ot
State VS.. Mcknight, IA winch the
court declares that OsteOpatl.y is not
practice of medicine. The bill to
which you refer grants osteopaths
not the right to practice medicine,
but the right to practice osteopathy.
Again, you say they feel ''Their
inability to pass such an examina-
ton in medical science as the men of
the regular profession have passed."
In this you fail to take into account
that the State Board of Medical Ex-
aminers refused to examine an osLeo-
path at its regular meeting in May,
because the Supreme Court, in the
case of State VS.. Briggs, in a decision
handed down December, 1903, states
that said Board of Medical Exami-
ners had no right to examine appll-
cants other than those of the regular
medical profession. The osteopaths
inability to pass an examination,
therefore, is legal and not mental.
You say further, such Legislation
is ''not only unjust to the profession,
! but ruinously .hurtful to the people,
and such bill is Infamous in the
extreme, unjust to the citizens of the
State and an outrage on the decent
respectable medicrl profession who
are striving to elevate and upIift
professional Standards" To this
| statement [ Wish to submit the fol-
loving facts: The Legislature through
| a bill introduced at the instlgation
of your Society in 1903 gives Osteo-
| pathy legal recognition in this State.
| The Supreme Court in the case OF
State vs.. Blggs decided that the
State Board of Medical Examiners
had no right to examIne OSteopa tbs
or any other school of meuIcine
which did not administer drugs aS a
therapeutic agency. Its decisioa
leaves the State open to those prac
tices "wnlch Will prove degrading
to the profession of medicine anG
render our state the haven of refuge
for the ignorant and Illiterate quacks
of other states. "a condition WiiIcf
O5teopaths as as we'll as the regular
medical profession deplore. The bill
introduced in the present legislator.
Jan. 10Th, is an attempt on the par
of the Osteopaths to prevent th'
iIliterate and incompetent men o
, the Osteopathic profession from com
: ing into North Carolina. Said bill
) requires that applicants who appea
: tor an examination shall presen
[ | credentiale showing all atteudanc
ia reputable Osteopathic College G
! three years of not less than min
months each.
Again, to oppose this bill as yo
: suggest in your circular letter doe
y not keep out incompetent men of an
4 school, but on the other hand, if tn
a bill is defeated, North Carolina rt
mains open to the incompetent q