Bismarck daily tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, Dakota [N.D.]) 1881-1916, 1910-11-18

The National League for Medical
Freedom with headquarters in New
York city has recently issued a bull
letin on infantile paralysis which will
! be of interest to the general public
and especially to all who are inter-
ested in the general public health.
The article follows herewith:
| The infantile paralysis scare which
has been so systematically worked
up and kept alive the past few weeks
by certain physicians has caused more
conflicting ideas and reversals of opin-
ion among doctors in general than
any endemic of fear that has been
! started in "a long time. The only thing
that it can be compared with is the
"crime wave" that municipal police
department stirs up when an enlarged
APPROXIMATION Of new laws giving it
more despotic power are needed. On
such occasions some ordinary crime IS
'fcatured' and covered with mantle
of mystery. TIE police discover new
and more sensational clues hourly
and this goes on until the purpose
back of il all is achieved. Then the
alarming spectres fade away and are
forgotten.
Infantile paralysis is not new
bugbear, although it has been wide
" heralded as the most modern OF
! mysterious diseases. AS Il matter OF
fact it was known and commented
! vpon by doctors thirty or forty years
ago. No one worried about it very
much until lately. AS money maker
for the medical profession it has en-
tirely eclipsed pellagra or the hook
worm.
When this excitement was first
started it was asserted, for instance
that infantilc paralysis sought its
victims exclusively among the child
rem of the Door. This theory re-
ceived setback the other day When
the two daughter Of Congressman
Frank O. Lowden, Of Oregon. III.
were taken i'll with what eminent
Chicago specialists called anterior
poliomyelitis. which is the fear-in
spring Greek name for the disease
These little girls are the grand
daughters of Mrs. George NJ. Pull
man. and it is said will inherit hcl
vast wealth Congressman I.ow'lcn
their father, is very rich also. Sc
the "poor children" theory was
dropped overheard.
Hardly day passes without the
ory after theory being exploded ant
others more picturesque taking thel'
place 1t reminds one of detective
bureau that is avid for ADVERTISE
ment and while pretending to seel
an alleged criminal spends more
time in thinking of fresh way to
keep in the days news.
| 1t is unethical for doctors to ad
vertise, but a certain class of ply
sicians get around that very clcverly
by taking advantage OF the excite
ment over every NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS.
ease. He lets it be known to the
newspapers that he has made some
important discovery or has evolved
some sensational theories in regard
to its origin. treatment or cure. he
allows himself to be interviewed, re
luctantly, of course. When he has
done this several times he becomes j.;
u
would not have achieved had ne
spent much nancy in display adver
,isin. To physicians of this class a
typhoid fever. smallpox or dipthera
scare is a Godsend and an infantile
paralysis alarm Golconda. The ad
! herents of the 'medico-politicar
school scorn tho old fog methods OF
The doctors of the past generation
the men who placed their skill ana
! humanity above all else and to whom
pccuniary reward was only Incidental
The excuse of the doctor OF this
school is that his profession is over
crowded and that the man with the
most imagination gels the business. II
is this same commercial spirit that is
back of the movement to form a ma
tional department of health. with its
head a cabinet officer, which would
place the direction of the dOctOrine