The Waterbury Democrat., 1932-05-03

Washington. D. C.. May 3-Ap- proximately $125,000,00 annually. equivalent to 12 per cent of the amount spent on the 142,000 doc- tors of medicine, is expended in the United States on 36,150 other practitioners who hold themselves out to treat the sick-osteopaths chiropractor, nat turo paths and allied h ca lers, and Christian Science and New Thought practi- tioners-accordlng to Louis $. Reed, Ph.D. in a report presented to the committee on the Costs of Medical Care.
 Present legislation designed to protect the public from urquali- fled practitioners is not accom- plishing it's purpose, according to the report. for, although 1t main tains high standards for doctors of medicine, It sanctions the exis- tence on lower plane of Qualifi- cations of thousands of poorly trained practitioners. The use of any therapeutic measures by un- trained or poorly trained indivi- duals, unable to diagnose disease and unaware of their limitations, Is unsound, dangerous and waste ful, no matter how sound those measures may be, Mir Reed said.
 The report stated that, while rec ligious healing Is able to accom- plish beneficial results in some conditions, 1t may be harmful when practiced by those unable to diagnose disease, especially when it is held that disease is an illusion.
 Mir Reeds report, "The Healing Cults" published by the Univer- ssty of Chicago Press, Is the six. teenth study completed by the committee on the Costs of Medical Care which, on November 29th, will issue it's final report with rec concentrations based on It's ex- haustive five-year study of the problem of "the delivery of ade- quate, scientific medical service to all the people, rich and poor, at n cost which can be reasonably met by them in their respective stations In life."
 As result of his exhaustive study, MT Reed estimated that the people of the United States an- nually spend $42.000,000 for the services of the nations 7,650 osteo- paths; $63,000,000 on 10000 chiro- practors! $10,000,000 on 2,500 na- turopaths and allied groups; and another $10.000.000 on tho 10000 Christian Science and New Thought healers.
 : A study of 7,sO0 representative families revealed that only 52 families considered headers in these cults as their family practitioners. Only Ia per cent of the families having medical care during tho year used them exclusively, al- though 10 per cent resorted to healing cult practitioners at one time or another.
 Cultist Schools Found Weak.
 The report traces the develop ment and history of the various cults and contains descriptions of the schools, ideas and legal status of each group. It points out the similarity In the origin of many of the cults, in that originally their treatments were "cure alls' based, on all-inclusive theories of the cause of disease. Modification of such theories and the elevation of professional and educational standards gradually leads the cult to improve in training and dim finish in number and eventually to be assimilated into the general body of regular medical practition- CTS, according to the report.
 MT Reed condemned the quality of teaching In the chiropractlc and naturopathic schools. He found that entrance requirements are