Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1922-02-18
RUM AND YHE DRUGGIST
LEADERS In the Pharmaceutical Pro.
. fessIon Considering q New Code
OF Ethles-or. Ia Wall on the
subJeet-Modern Con. .
dltlons Demand u
BY GEORGE NOx MCCAIN

~ Milesian accent and q commercial air
called at the Offices Of the Philadelphia Col.
lege of Pharmacy.
He desired to see any one Of the pro.
fessors.
.'F'or what purposc?" be. was asked.
II want TO hire several registered phar.
macists,' he explained.
"Well, yc' sec, I've taken out a license
to sell liquor as druggist. but they tell me
I've got to have registered pharmacist to
You are not a druggist. then?'
"Oh, no: I'm just going into the busi-
ness to sell liquor from my drug storc."'
1t is wholly unnecessary to say that he
received short shrift in his quest for pro.
fessional men TO serve as bartenders.
nR. CHARLES II. LA WALL, eminent
- analytical chemist and dean Of the
Philadelphia College Of Pharmacy and Sci
ence, answers two interesting questions in
his charnctcristicnlly direct and vigorous
manner. They are:
Do druggists need new code Of ethics?
Is the profession Of pharmacist being de.
moralizcd BY the operation Of the Vostead
law?
As n preliminary, DR.. La Wall informed
me that strenuous efforts have been and are
being made to protect the pharmaceutical
profession against the temptations thrown
in It's way since the enactment Of the Vol
stead law.
There is need for a new code Of ethics
for tho pharmaceutical profession" he said.
''Thc subject has been discussed for years,
but conditions surrounding the enforcement
of OF the s xolstcad law are rendering such
nR. LA WALL read a paper before the
- American Pharmaceutical Association
at Its last meeting in New Orleans in which
he outlined n code for adoption by present.
day associations.
In 1913 the first code of ethics was
adopted by the Philadelphia College of
1t was the first in this country.
revi iscd code was adopted in 1000. which
is still observed
1T is not improbable said Dean La
Wall, "that two important changes will be
made ut the College Of Pharmacy next year.
I'VE shall compel students entering the
college to subscribe to n code Of ethics. or
set OF rules. at the beginning of the course
instead of at the end
This would enable the college authori.
ties to detect infractions of this code at any
period before graduation. and make it pos
sible for them to act accordingly.
I'm the second place It is not improbable
that the institution will limit the number
OF students and size. of classes.
lJ1ANMASEOIlCaL asSOClatlOnS are
L determined to maintain the dignity of
the profession. For that reason they are
using every effort to drive out Of their ranks
those guilty Of violating the rules by yielding
to the temptations that are offered by un-
scrupulous and mercenary persons and firms
who engage in the liquor traffic under the
guise OF operating drug stores.
"Whilc the present code OF ethics, to
which students must subscribe, expressly
condemns the sale or dispenation Of liquors,
stimulants, opiates Or injurious drugs, ex-
ccpt In accordance with a physicians pre-.
ner, changing conditions demand revision
of the code"
DR.. La Wall suggested as a basis for dis
cussion at the New Orleans national meet.
ing. in the hope Of procuring a code Of
ethics TO meet the requirements of present.
day conditions. the following among large
number of other suggestions:
The pharmacist should not sell or dis
pense powerful drugs and poisons indiscrim-
inatingiy to persons not properly qualified
to administer or Use them, and should use
every proper precaution to safeguard the
public from poisons and from all habit.
forming medicines.
1.-The pharmacist. being legally intrusted
with the dispensing and sale of narcotic
drugs and alcoholic liquors, should merit
this responsibility by upholding and con.
forming to the laws and regulations govern
Ing the distribution of these substances"
THERE are only twenty States in the
L Union, which require college graduation
as prerequisite to the practice Of phar-
macy.
In the remaining States any one can be.
come pharmacist who can answer salts.
factorily the questions Of the Examining
Board.
Under such circumstances there Is really
no code of ethics and nothing to prevent the
,,ln, ir,t, L.,
room IL he SO elects.
In the final analysis, under the Volstead
law. the prescribing physician is the real
culprit. however.
He issues the prescription. the druggist
fills 1t. OF course, If the druggist IL run
ming bar behind the prescription counter.
Doctors prescription Is an unnecessary
adjunct to his business.
A story that is vouched for by a promi-
nent physician inJects IN entirely new
scheme into the devious ways of the high
class rum hound and bootlcgger.
a couple of physicians in this city who
issue prescriptions for whisky by the mint
require the druggist to withhold four ounces
out of each pint, which is set aside for tho
physicians. who drop around and collect it
at frequent intervals.
TNfiE intcrdependence OF physician and
l. pharmacist is everywhere set forth In
ancient records.
1t began 1900 years Il. c., when the
Egyptian physician priest sent his prescrip-
tions to another priest to be filled and who.
accompanied by third, visited the sick one
and administered the remedy.
The Jewish physician and teacher Mai
monides. who lived in Spain in the twelfth
century A. D.. contributed to professional
ethics a wonderful oath and prayer.
In this great physicians oath, admin.
istered to his students, he prays:
"That neither greed for gain nor thirst for
fame, nor vain ambition,
May interfere with my activity.
The rich and poor, the good and bad.
enemy and friend,
Oh, let me e'er behold in the afflicted and
the suffering,
Only the human being"
Boleyn, a cousin of Anne Boeyu. Queen
Of Henry VIII, included in 1880 In his code
of ethics as pharmacist the following:
"The npothecary must serve God: be
cleanly and pity the poor. His garden must
be at hand with plenty of herbs seeds and