Evening star., 1921-12-19
DR.. Lorenz and the Doctors.

Closed shop" practices as applied
to DR.. Adolf Lorenz. the famous
Austrian surgeon, however defen-
sible they may be from the profess
sional standpoint, are distinctly not
popular with the lay public. When
DR.. Lorenz visited this country twenty
years ago he left behind him many
legends. one of which in particular
fired the American imagination-the
story of the little crippled girl in
Chicago, who. with vast wealth and
an assured social position, still faced
a life of uselessness and suffering un-
til DIR. Lorenz rescued her. Recently
he came back for the purpose. as he
Stated it. of expressing in terms of
healing for crippled American chill
dren the gratitude of his people for
the American relief for starving Aus
trian children. That mission, and the
newspaper stories of his working
with crippled poor children in the
clinics Of New York until he COL
lapsed from WEAKNESS also appealed
strongly to the American imagination
and fitted into the picture which this
country held Of the great surgeon.
But, as the San Francisco Call re-
pcrts. sit wasn't long before that
curfously intangible and shapeless
cloud of regulations known as pro-
fessional ethics rose to oppose him.
resulting in number of occurrences
which are calling forth indignant pro-
tests from the papers.
First, some Philadelphia DOCTORS
refused to work with him because of
his nationality: then certain promi-
nent Chicago surgeons issued bill
of particulars against him and are
seeking to close Chicago hospitals to
the famous specialist; now the New
York state board of education and
health has notified him that he can
no longer practice in the state with
out a license. Discouraged by this
opposition. DR.. Lorenz was about to
give up his mission and return home,
but DR.. Copeland. health commission
er of New York city, succeeded in
convincing him that the American
people were being misrepresented.
If he has. as the New York World
suspects. "a rather distressing i'm.
preston of American professional
manners and American tolerance" it
should be dispelled by the attitude Of
the press, because, as the Pittsburgh
Sun says. 1.-The aspersions Of the few
do not represent the opinion of the
many" and for "the great American
public: the Columbia Record "hotly
wanton insult to this Good Samari-
tan"
It is ga perverted patriotism" the
Roanoke World News holds, (which
would prevent DR.. Lorenz's visit of
mercy on the ground that he is; or
Express is emphatic in its position
that "Dr. Lorenz's nationality does
not matter" for. the Philadelphia
Public Ledger asks. what do the
multitude Of sufferers looking for re-
whose only fighting has been against
human misery and suffering?" zone
of the specifications in the criticism
Of DR.. Lorenz." says the Springfield
Union, 'is that he has come to this
country to make money -. II f1tia,t that is is
that "he has come to a country that
is not without sinners"
The "inhospitality Of the American
medical profession" in its treatment
of DR.. Lorenz is 'indefensible," the
and the st. Louis Post-Dispatch is
sure there will be no sympathy with
orthopedists who value their cloister-
ed professional sensibilities more
highly than the health and happiness
of MANNED children" To this charge
Medical and Surgical journal replies
that while 1.-THE medical profession is
perhaps no more immune to that
sentiment than any other" in this
instance "Lorenz, neither by reputa-
ton nor achievement. is in a position
to actuate that sentiment in a pro
fession that has passed him by in the
march of progress" Lay defense Of
our own doctors also emphasizes the
point that American skill has de-
veloped beyond the foreign pioneer.
'There is a glamour about the Eu-
ropean surgeon just as there is about
the European statesman, which, in
the opinion Of the Memphis News
scimitar, explains the prestige Of DR..
Lorens, while "thousands Of surgeons
day, unknown to the general public,
the same operations that DR.. Lorenz
is performing" The Tulsa Tribune
also feels that. wonderful as he ad-
mittedly is, "there are many almost
as skilled. but parents whose chill
dren have been crippled % from ron birth or
And to that q. great chorus. replies
that precisely therein lies the value
A. lii l.