New Britain herald., 1918-12-24
Report of Compensation Commissioners Shows That 544,885 Workers Are Being Protected By Statute.
The biennial report of the board of

The biennial report of the board of compensation commissioners has been rendered to the governor. It covers the number of accidents re- ported during the last two years, and the total sums expended for com pensatiOn and doctors bills; also an apprONimation of the numb Der ot per sons under the act. The relation of doctors to the administration of the act is discussed and recommendation made that the commissioner be given power to change doctors. Re cent decisions of the supreme court are discussed and explained, and 1g amendments to the act proposed one or two of which are somewhat funda- mental, but most of which are more or less technical, having to do with the administration of the act.
 Many Protected By Law.
 For the P months included in the report 79,1S4 accidents were report ed, of which 20,374 were cases calling for compensation in addition to doc tors bills, the amount paid out therefor by self-insurers and insur- ance companies amounting to $3,OS2- 719. From the best figures obtain amble it appears that 544,885 people in SCOnnecticut are protected by the act.
 Tables are given, showing that ot the 140 employers carrying their own risk, 60 maintain first aid depart ments and 33 have emergency hospi- tals with one or more trained nurses in attendance. In discussing these in dustrial hospitals, the mmissioners say that it may be laid down as an almost invariable rule that the surgi- cal results from such hospitals, where they are properly administered, are distinctly to the advantage of the employees. Indeed, in certain large pants, those cases of infection which are so frequent affecting the gen. eral run of employees, are practically unknoWn,' adding that the danger is that a physician will not be callsd in every case where his services arc needed" The most satisfactory suits "are found in those plants where there is a well equipped emergency hospital with conscientious trained, nurses and possibly an orderly in at tendance, the hospital being visited daily, or oftener, by one or more rep utable surgeons in general practice in the community
 Regarding the Physicians.
 Physicians receive considerable at tention. The so-Called "contract doc- tor,' who is employed on a salary by insurance companies or large em- ployers, comes in for his share So, too, do those physicians, who habit ually, either by a private arrange ment as to fees or for any other req son, treat practically all of the cases of certain employers or insurance companies, The commissioners point out that, 'aside from an almost ua- avoidable desire to stand by his en- ployer, such a physician deals almost wholly with traunia, and fails of that broader viewpoint which comes from the study, diagnosis and treatment of disorders a S such, and independent of their source. He is apt to be unduly suspicious of the motives of injured Workmen. Furthermore, he is es- pecially prone to disregard those symptoms which, although they are subjective, are none the less real" They also issue a warning that "o1e of the besetting sins of physicians and surgeons, and often of practitioners of very high standing, is to slip uncon- sciously into the role of advocate"
 On the whole, however, greater dangers would result from the choice of physicians entirely by the injured Workmen, as less skillful and consci- entious physicians on the average would be secured in that way. In order to mitigate what seems to be an un- due harshness in the existing rule" two important amendm ents are rec commended. One of these provides that where an employer has neglected to provide a physician and the work man has gone and secured his own, the employer cannot come in and or der change without the approval of the com missioner. The other gives to the commissioner in all cases the right to order a, change of doctors for good cause shown.
 Praise for Doctors.
 The discussion of the relation of physicians to the act ends with the re- assuring statement that 'it is a pleas ure to report that the code of ethics which the medical profession has de- veloped through a long series of years has amtply vindicated itself in the op- eration of the act, and not a little of the success of this piece of legisla- ton has been due to the skill and high sense of honor of the physicians and surgeons who have aided the commits sioners in applying the law
 Under the general caption, "Some Points Set at Rest" there is an expla- , nation of the leading decisions of the supreme court, interpreting the act, handed down during the period GOV cred by the report, the most important ] of which from a practical point of