The Farmington times. (Farmington, St. Francois County, Mo.) 1905-1926, 1907-09-20
MEDICAL FAILURES.
An Authority Says Three.Fourths OF
Graduates Are United to Practice.

That 5000 out OF the 1000 gradu-
atcs turned out by the Medical Col
leges each year are wholly untitled to
practice medicine and are mcnaces to
the communities in which they set.
tie was stated by DR.. Chester Mayer,
OF the state Board OF Medical Exam.
liners of Kentucky at meeting OF the
American Medical Associations Com
mittce on Medical Education, held in
Chicago not long ago DR.. Mayer said
that only % to IS per cent OF the
graduates are qualified. Fifty-eight
per cent OF the graduates examined in
rs states were refused licenses. VITA
few exceptions these failures took a
second examination in few weeks
aud only 50 per cent of them passed.
This does not mean that deficien.
cios in their training were corrected
In those few weeks" DR.. Mayer said
1T probably shows that experience
showed them what the test would
probably be and they 'crammed' for
the examination. DR.. ". T. Gott,
Secretary Of the Indiana Board said;
The majority Of our schools now
teach their students how to pass ex.
aminations, not how to be good ply
sicians,"
At the session Of the American
Medical Association held in Atlantic
City in June, Or. NJ. Clayton Thrush,
a professor in the Medco ChirurgIcal
College in Philadelphia said; Many
doctors turned out Of the Medical
Schools are so ignorant In matters
pertaining to pharmacy that they
know nothing about the properties
Of the drugs they prescribe for their
paticnts!" Dr. Henry Beats, IT. Pres,
ident of the Pennsylvania Stale Board
of Medical Examiners, after ecrutiniz.
Ing the papers OF a class Of candi-
dates for licensurc said: About one
| quarter of the papers show a degree
of illiteracy that renders the candi-
dates for licensure incapable OF I'M
derstanding medicine"
A great many more physiciaGs and
chemists might be quoted in support
Of the astounding charge that 5000 in
competents are being dumped onto
an unsuspecting public each year.
! What the damage done amounts TO
| can never be estimated for these In.
competents enjoy the privilege Of dl.
agnosing. prescribing or dispensing
drugs regarding the properties OF
which they know nothing and then
Of signing death certificates that are
not passed upon by anyone unless tho
coroner is called in. Probably there
is not a grave yard from one end OF
the country to the other that does not
contain the buried evidences OF the
mistakes or criminal carelessness OF
incompetent physicians.
During the last year there have
been perhaps, half a dozen known
cases where surgeons, after perform
ing operations have sewed up the In
cisions without first removing the
gauze sponges used to absorb the
blood, and In some cases forceps and
even surgeons scissors have been
left in the wound. How many OF
these cases there have been, where
the patient died, there is no means
OF knowing and comparatively few
of the cases where the discovery is
made in time to save life become gen
orally public. Reports from Santa
i RUINS for the treatment OF the DRUG
Habit show that members Of the medi
cal profession are more often treated
in these institutions than members
of any other profession, and that
majority of the patients. excluding th'
physicians themselves, can trace
their downfall directly TO u careless
physician.
How many criminal operations arr
performed by physicians is also {
matter of conjecture. Operations o
this class are, unfortunately, very
frequent in large cities. Some gradu
atci and licensed physicians man!
Of them OF supposed responsibility
make an exclusive practice Of Grim
inal medical and surgical treatment
DR.. Henry G.. W. Rheinhart, Coroner
physician of Chicago, estimates tn
number OF criminal operations, amt
ally In Chicago alone at $4,000. How
many resulted fatally are unknown
as when death results, the real caus
is disguised in the death certificate
which the physician signs, and whicI
no one but himself and clerk sees
Probably not one case of malpraC
tice in 1000 ever becomes the subjec
OF law suit but in the last year ar
proximately $50 cases wherein tn
plaintiff has alleged malpractice hav
been reported in the newspapers, an
owing to the social prominence an
the favored positions OF many phys
clans not more than half the ne,
suits stated, probably, result in an
newspaper publicity. but 1t would
probably not be an exaggeration I
state that the total cases Of malpra,
tice, not involving criminal operation
or criminal medical practice, woul
amount to 10000 or more than on
case to each physician in the country