The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1914-04-07
4 REMEDY is PROPOSED
Statistics Show That Less
Than a Tablespoonful Per
Patient Annually Is The Rule
Where Liquor Has Been Pre-
scribed BY The Physicians
Who Are In Charge
tBy WARREN II. BOOKER, C. Ed

WAftftfIN IL. bOOAEH, T.. Ed
Just a little on O of sick
ness" Tha used to be an old excuse
Tor keeping the jug around the house
Nov it is becoming an excuse for get
:sing whiskey by the pint or quart
from the drugstore. The question
has been raised if prescribing LIQUOR
Is not, in some $ getting it ''un.
der false pretenses," or at least a priv
nege that is abused. This tendency.
il has been noticed, has been on the
has bee non the increase within recent
years.
in order to get at the facts in the
case, to learn definitely if the general
attitude of the medical profession is
10 increase or decrease the use of al
roholic liquors I'm treating disease and
10 establish a rough standard, rule or
guide showing the average quantity
of alcoholic liquor now used by the
Sest authorities on medicine, the Sec
rotary of the State Board of Health
wrote to a number of the best hos
pitfalls in the country, and to all the
physicians in the State who nave been
officers in the State Medical Society
during the last five years, and asked
them TO give definite facts as to the
number of patients they treated in a
year. together with the total amount
Of liquor prescribed.
SiCdt IibA WCIS 1S-
"eived. From these it was found
that. for a total of 1862 patients
treated during one year, a total Of
sol gallons of whiskey and brandy
were prescribed. This, reduced down,
proved TO be an average of about
fhree-fourths Of a tablespoonful per
patient during the entire year. This
result, from such a large number of
cases from the practice Of reputable
physicians and hospitals, can only be
construed as being an index as to
what constitutes good practice in re-
gard TO the use OF liquor as medicine.
The Practice is Changing.
From the replies received to the
letters of Enquiry, two important
points were brought out:
Cd A great many of the doctors
stated that they were using much
less liquor now than they did from
tive To ten or fifteen years ago, anC
that, too, patients are more success
fully treated than when more liquor
WAS prescribed.
90 1t could not but be noted that
n general, doctors who had received
their degrees in medicine within tn
ssst ten years were prescribing /;
great deal ess liquor than doctor
who graduated prior to that time.
great many of the very best doctor
of the younger set prescribe no liquO
whatsoever.
From these two points it appear
that Enthusiastically the tendency Il
'he best medical practice OF the pres
ent day is to decrease rather than in
crease the quantity OF liquor pre-
sr1ibed.
one of the most striking feature
OF the whole matter is that while tn
best medical practice both in the Stat
and In large hospitals outside n
state shows a strong tendency to de
crease the o of liquor present.
al, yet the actual OF HquC
prescribed by the profession as
whole is believed to be largely in
creased during recent years, and
VIII be noted that this increase Is CO
incident with the more rigid enforce
mtnt of our prohibition laws.
The replies to the questions submit
red were so interesting that We ca!
not refrain from quoting the glst or
rev. Space fOrbids longer quotation
out these are tyuical. =,
Il find it advisable to present.
Nh!skey 70 perhaps less than ten p;
tieais "a year."-W. J.. Dunn, MI
Ashcvine.
With all of our practice. includii
thc hospital and our private work, v
90 not advise an amount exceeoll
~" gallon a year.. I. Burrt
N. D.. High Point.
me amount used in the Insult
o' ,he ySai HIS peeh an ' ~,
al - Ia ounce per patient. Al
rather high average is due to I
Quantity required by certain chro1
patients, and will be reduced ii
Eear."-Albert Anderson, n. d., 5
perintendent State Hospital Tor [
insane, Raleigh.
i do not use more than one or
OF spirits to h patients. Il. tia
RS. NJ. d., Henderson.
II am sure that on my hoSpI
services only two or three patients