Los Angeles herald. [microfilm reel] (Los Angeles [Calif.]) 1900-1911, 1908-06-13
SAY BRUSH, SHOULD
HAVE BEEN WATCHED
DOCTORS DISAGREE AS TO
TREATMENT
Playwright and Politician Who Died
at Receiving Hospital May Have
Been Given Too Much
Choral

at IL seldom such quantity of chloral
and bromides as It is claimed was admins
tered at the receiving hospital to Judson O.
Brusle. the playwright. whom 1t is limited
died from the effects Of these drugs. can be
such a quantity Is warranted By the condi-
tion Of the patient
81 believe 100 grains of choral and bro
mides given In doses of twenty grains each
for 1--WE consecutive hours. as It is claimed
was done In BRUSHES case, may be all right
where the physician watches the pbysiolog-
ical action closely and discontlnues the drug
when the desired results are obtained
Potassium iodine, a much more powerful
drug, sometimes is given In fifty-grain doses
~ have never seen such large doses Of
choral and bromides given."--statement OF
DR.. f. G. Goodrich Of the Los Angeles Fra
ternal HOSPITAL association.
Los Angeles doctors have been con-
siderably wrought UP over the charges
made by friends of. the late Judson G.
Brusie, the San Francisco playwright
who died in the California hospital
Los Angeles, last Wednesday morning
against police surgeons at the receiv-
ing hospital who, it is alleged. gave
| him overdoses of choral and bromide
besides hypodermic injections of hyo-
cine, morhphia and cactin compound
| Technically known as H.. M. & C.,
while he was a patient at the recelV'
| ing hospital.
| According to number of physicians
who were consulted yesterday, the
question as to whether the doses adj
ministered by DR.. Wiley were exces
sive and fatal can only be decided by
a knowledge of the physical condition
of the patient.
| In certaif4 instances, according to wei
known physicians, twenty grains o.
each drug given for five consecutive
hours would not be too much. This
| implies, although no physician yester'
| day would positively say SO, that II
other instances twenty grains SO ao'
ministered would be too much.
Should BE Watched Closely
| The consensus of opinion seems to bt
that If the patient was closely watched
and the physiological effects carerull!
noted, the drugs could be administered
in this quantity with safety; but doc
tors emphasize that in every instance
| where such a quantity Is administered
the patient should be continually un'
der the close observation of the doc
| tor-something that is impossible UNI
der the crowded conditions and poo
facilities at the receiving hospital.
Doctor Resents Charge
DR.. Wiley himself resents the charg,
made by friends of Brusie and sale
yesterday there was absolutely no trutf
| in IL. He declares 1t was either cas-
of let the man die of delirium tremen'
without medical aid, or to induce sleel
with drugs and take a chance of pre-
serving his life. A properly conducted
autopsy, he declares, will bear out Thu
| statement.
"There is one thing certain" SAT-
DR.. Wiley. BRUSHES treatment at tn
receiving hospital was correct. from
medical point of view, whatever
might have been after he left the re
ceiving hospital. I refuse to be tn
| scapegoat for any man,
There is no question that Brusie wa'
| In a pitiful condition. His warmes
| friends and admirers admit he had peer
a heavy drinker for many years; thai
| he had once taken the gold cure, and
that since his return to the habit, last
| october, he had drunk more heavily
| than ever.
Though recognized as a brilliant
genius, politician, writer, dramatist anc
orator. Brusie was frequently intoxl'
Gated, Alcoholism, combined with nerv-
GUS prostration, intestinal trouble ano
| a weak heart, all suddenly intensified
by the shock of his arrest on the
charge of embezzlement preferred
against him in San Francisco, suddenly
reduced him to. physical wreck. His
delirium at the receiving hospital Il
=. 1yfAIA