The Waterbury Democrat., 1931-04-23
PUBLIC OWNERSHIP OF THE DOCTORING
 BUSINESS


 The man who was health commissioner of New York city when we went to press seems in- | sDred with the idea that he has been called to doctor the ills of the doctorng business For that matter. nearly any politician who manages to get a soft berth with the health department-and by soft @ u berth don't mean the the M poor doctors who who who happen to be relatives or old friends or pro- teges of the winning mayoralty candidates city. state and nation, devote a large part of their official energies to schemes for correcting the sad conditions n private msaisai practice. | ment that makes these health officers pro tenn or till next election scorn to apply their extraor- many unsoved problerns of public health or tary administration. Whereas we ordinary pod- ding practitioners without any pull with the reigning party constantly encounter startling in- | stances of neglect evasion of the most funda- mental sanitary principles or rules by the health authorities themselves and so we do not wonder how the man at the top finds so much time to deal with matters which are none of his official Dr Shirley W. Wynnc who had the New York l job when this was written, has evolved plan to in unsatisfactory not only to the public but to the doctors as we'll. He would have all the doc- tors go on a kind of retainer fee arrangement. whereby each man or woman or head of family would pay the doctor 2 regular fixed sum month 1 ly or annually, which would cover all the med ical advice service bills. and his pay would immediately cease whenever the patient fell fl thus the plan provides q powerful incentive for the doctor to hurry up and get the patient well again.
 One of these deadly magazines of the high brow class, such as may still be found occasion has made his pile ana retired. has urged that some such system be given a trial in this coun- A west coat editor casting about for some- thing to say that would not have any kickback, hit upon the romantic health commissioner's | unique idea and delivered a 250 word commen- tary upon the subject beginning with q brief allusion to the custom in China, where one pays when se es the editor was bit vague in his seography--it Is in Utopia, not in China. where that cuEom pre- vails The Chinese are too wise to be caught pay- ing doctor when they do not need him.
 One class of practitioners would be out of luck if this scheme were put .n effect. At that. 1t might cut down the number of questionable oper- ati0ns.
 CTS. pipe dreamers and Idle health commission- n- CTS should ever bring such custom into practice in this still toierabis free country. 1t would mean the end of the doctoring business. for our wise. acre population would soon ask "why pay the doctors anything Tt alive can keep well enough by following simple rules we all under
 QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS
 Germ Phobla
 with germs and boiling water fails to Kill them. So handkcrchicfs used during colds are unit for use and should bc discarded If that is 50 :.
 Answer-gut 1t isn't so. for ordinary launder- ing and ironing sufficiently stsSiiizes, no matter what disease or infection may be concerned.
 Undies
 What ts the best kind of underwear tO absorb all the precipitation canecd by q good workout such as vigorous indoor or outdoor skating? | Drcspirc freely and tine underwear does not abs sOrb all the precipitation. causing an unusual amount Of stiffness 0f the back muscles and slight hOarsencss. w. T)
 Answer--Mesh or knitted or loosely woven material of linen wool silk and wool or cotton. in the order named, Your stiffness and hoarseness cannot be explained that way. stiff. ness alone, without any hoarseness. might be caused by too sudden chilling; or by too iong rest period between efforts: or by lack of training, so that you are unhccustomed to such effort.
 Homemade 6unSEline
 We have Homemade sunshine lamp using four cartoons and two arcs. 10 there danger in setting too close or remaining too long exposcd 70 the light? (J. Al
 Answer--It sounds dangerous to me, but am not ar expert in the handling Of electricity. The question of exposure 10 the light is within my province--tbe effects are the same aG from ex. posture to direct seieht You must protect the eyes and you must beware of burns unsubsidised authorities tell me the ultraviolet delivered by an ordinary carbon arc lamp tsucb as the old fash. toned street lampl is greater than that of nnr 1Wf1s1 l4N4t sfMM