The Olneyville times. (Olneyville [Providence, R.I.]) 1887-1917, 1914-01-09
A DOCTORS STORY
The Problem That Grew Out Of
a Queer Night Call.
A STUDY IN MEDICAL ETHICS.


physician. of a problem that suddenly
confronted him and how he inter
preted the ethics of his profession and
acted on It.
II was reused one night" he said,
'by telephone call. An unfamiliar
voice asked me II could attend q
man who had been injured. answer
ed that l could II the case was ur-
gent, but before could ask who was
calling the speaker answered.:
"'All right, doctor: I'll call at your
house In ten minutes with carriage
almost before l had time to dress
door, and man wearing long ulster,
a dark hat and pair of colored glass
es entered.
Doctor he said. before we start
] want to make request. This case,
as 1 told you, Is urgent. But before
we start ] must have your assurance
that you will treat this visit as
more, except to add that you're run
ming no risk Of any kind In help
Ing me-
"There was nothing about the mans
appearance that seemed suspicious.
He was quiet and self possessed.
There wasn't a trace Of nervousness
about him, and he was well dressed.
thought there was no reason for re-
fusing to make the agreement.
81 took my hat. and we started. The
carriage was a closed one We got In;
the man turned on small electric
light and then drew the blinds over
the windows.
doctor he said, I'm going to ask
you to take this trip without knowing
where you're going. I'll assure you
It's all right. want you to blindfold
yourself before we leave the carriage
until we get inside the house.
"Well, ! didn't like the look Of this.
but ! was I'm and didn't like to back
out. BY the time the carriage stop
ped didn't have the least idea what
part Of the town we were in, he had
made so many turns. put on the
blindfold as my visitor requested, and
we went Into house
Upstairs | found my patient He
had been shot twice. Revolver bullets
they were The wounds weren't dan
gerous, but they were painful because
they had not been treated earlier.
IL dressed them, told the woman
who was there what sort of care the
patient ought to have and then told
them that I'd have to see the man at
least two or three times more before
! could answer for his safe recovery.
"The man with the dark glasses
quietly assented to this. but insisted
that he should bring me at night, as
he had that time. | agreed.
"The next morning the papers told OF
a robbery I'm which householder had
been wounded after shooting one OF
the burglars. who succeeded I'm escap-
Ing All the facts of the case indl-
Gated that my patient of the night be-
fore was the burglar who had been
shot. The householder recovered
quickly.
1.-The question stared at me: Did the
ethics Of the medical profession allow
me to go to the police and tell them
what knew, or did my promise bind
me to secrecy? ! thought it over all
day and finally decided that | had 10
right to say anything about the mat
ter. made three more trips I'm the
same manner. All this time watch
ed the papers. but no trace was found
Of the burglars. When | made my
last visit told the man who had first
called me that my fee would be $50,
He took from large roll some bills
and handed them to me without a
word. He drove me home. and that
was the last ever saw Of either OF
them.
THAT was a good many years ago,
but I've often wondered whether | did
right In not violating that mans con
ndence."
IL don't think you did" said mem
ber of the group. The medical pro
fession has no right to shield a crim-
inal Women and children should be
given the greatest protection we can
give tneUl, Dut no WoTu given ~ Slllo
inal Is binding"
But suppose 1t had turned out that
the man was not the burglar I'm ques
ton? believe he was. but II might
have been otherwise"
That's true" said a third 1T was
all right to keep your promise so long
US you had no actual knowledge tLat
the man was a criminal. Where %2u
made your mistake was I'm makins
such ridiculous agreement in the first
place"
"And let a man. dangerously lnluf
ed, suffer-" asked the first speaker
Remember. when ! first agreed to Sc
crecy the case had no particularly sus-
picious appearance. could cite "a
dozen different circumstances In which
n serious accident might happen and
which the persons connected with
would. with a perfect right. 60 10
great lengths to keep secret So could
either Of you"
Which of the three was right2-New
York Telegraph.