Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial., 1921-08-10
SENATOR BALL FOR
PROFESSIONAL USE OF
LIQUOR AS MEDICINE
Opposed Amendment That Re-
stricts Physicians in Giving
Out Prescriptions.
MAY PREVENT SAVING LIFE

Special Dispatch From Every Evenings
washington Correspondent
shington. Aug. Ia senator Ball
eniivened the discussion in the Senate
OK the amendment of the National
prohibition bill offered by Senator
spencer. providing that physicians
may prescribe wine when clearly Hec-
essary for medical purposes. He spoke
more as a physician than a Senator.
he pointed out the necessity of rely
ing on the professional opinion and
Judgment of thu physician in minis
tering to the ills of the human family
emphasizing the fact that laymen
whether Senators or other persons OF
nigh estate, exceed the bounds of rea-
SON when they undertake 10 tell
physicians the quantity they may pre-
scribe of anything they may give for
the relief of their patients
Senator Sterling had Indicated that
he was opposed to the amendment
when Senator Ball said: "Then the
senator from South Dakota is OPP
posed to physicians prescribing accord
ing to their Judgment
The Senator certainly realizes,
continued Senator Ball, shat under
certain conditions more liquor is re-
quired than under other conditions
Take an epidemic, as the Spanish in
fiuenza, where hundreds of patients
In every physicians practice needed
alcohol each day. There are Eases of
intense depression where a life is
saved by alcohol, and Yet under this
bill you are limited 10 a hundred pre-
scriptions in ninety days, or. if you
should attempt to get the right to is
sue more, your patients would all pass
away. of course, before that time, and
II would do you no good. BY such an
act, If you are not going to trust To
the physicians Judgment, Congress
is taking the responsibility for the
future life of the physicians patients.
should Trust Physicians.
Further along in the discussion Of
the amendment Senator Ball. continu-
ing the same line OF argument. said:
II. OF course. am not going to dis
cuss the constitutionality of the mea-
sure. The question with me is wheth-
er IL is good legislation. whether 1t i
fair legislation for the general public,
Much legislation would be constitu-
tlonal for which l think no Senator
here would want TO vote; hut it is a
question Of legislating for the best
interests of the people. and it seems
10 me that physicians, from their
training from all points. should be al
lowed 10 prescribe those medicines
which in their Judgment are most
needed. Certainly there is some man
ner of enforcing this law SO as to pre-
vent physicians from prescribing al
cohol as a beverage. but when YOU
limit the number of prescriptions as
YOU do in this bill you are preventing
a physician from practicing medicine
along the lines which in his Judgment
are necessary for the saving OF life.
That. 10 me. is not only class legisIa-
ton but Il is almost criminal"
Senator Ball said that If physician
had 10 90 through the routine pre-
scribed in the bill there would be no
necessity for acquiring alcohol for the
patient, as even the funeral rites
would then be over. we prescribe
in cases of emergency. and only in
cases OF emergency said Senator
Ball. Ordinarily in my practice |
for liquor / doubt whether / gave
FIVE; but during the Attack of in
fsuenza / believe for a week or ten
DAYS 1 averaged fifty a day, and
could not have given those under the
provisions of this bill. did save life
by it. Now you are going TO pass an
at, which. if 1t had been a law then.
would have prevented me, as a ply
sician. from performing what / be-
lieved TO be my duty as a physician,
my honest duty 10 the public.
Delaware Doctors With Him.
Senator Ball backed up his argument
from the viewpoint of physician by
the declaration that ne was making
a canvass of the physicians of his own
State. which was yet incomplete, but
that as far as he had gone, he had
found that more than 80 per cent of
the physicians held exactly the same
view that ne does on this important
matter.
Senator Ball gave the Senate an ex-
pert's view on the difference in the use
N liquor as a beverage and as medi-
cine He said that from knowledge
obtained in a practice of ms dicine for
twerfsxgfve years it was his opinion
that IF whisky is discernible on the
breath, ii has been drunk as bever-
age; if it mas been used as a medicine.
you can not smell IL, for the body alb
serbs liquor when 1t is taken for legiti-
a 1s-.s..