Evening star., 1939-07-26

straints upon the practice of medi-
cine were restraints of trade" and
That Congress in the Sherman Act
used the term in such a sense. But
those cases are beside the point.
They do not involve any question
as to whether medicine is trade
They accepted the universal under.
standing of it as profession. MOI
DO they define trade" They merely
apply a rule of law. At most, such
cases serve only to illustrate the de-
Velopment of a legal doctrine, hav-
ing its origin in contracts concern
ing tradesmen, which became known
as the doctrine against restraint OF
trade and which in course of time
was extended and applied to agree
ments by doctors respecting their
professional practice.
Must Find Statute Sanction.
The case of Pratt VS.. Medical AS
sociation. l K. B. 244, upon which
the prosecution places much reli-
ance, Is interesting in the similarity
OF facts there proven and here al
legged; yet the legal aspects differ
greatly. The suit was civil action
IN tort by the plaintiff doctors to
recover damages for malicious in
jury to their means of livelihood
The claim was ground upon COM
mon-IaW principles which hold
every man liable in damages for
wrongful injury to another's means
OF livelihood.
Combination was not the g,st ot
the action; that circumstance only
increased the damage. So here. if
the livelihood of group practitioners
mas been injured by the wrongful
acts of the defendants, they toe
nave redress in a civil court, But
the charge in the present case is
criminal, and to stand must find
lts sanction solely in the statute.
= Coming now to other specifica-
tions Of the charge, one, two and
five. Is the association, or are its
members or the hospitals, engaged
IN trade within the meaning of
Section 3 of the statute? The
association is alleged to be a non
profit cooperative association of
Government employees engaged in
the business of arranging for the
provision of medical care and the
disqualification to its members and
their dependents.
The plan and purpose, it is
charged, was to hinder and obstruc,
the association in procuring and re-
tanning on its staff qualified doctors
to hinder and obstruct its doctors
from the privilege of consulting with
others and using the facilities of the
Washington hospitals. and to hinder
and obstruct the association in OBJ
tanning access to hospital facilities
for its members and its doctors from
treating and operating upon Their
patients in hospitals. The foregoing
references to Washington hospitals
in the plan set forth forms the only
support for the fifth specification
charging purpose to restrain the
business of operating said hospitals
Adopted Story Definition.
In previous discussion of the
cleaners and dyers' case, I have ex-
pressed the view that the court is
giving to the word trade" its full
meaning adopted the definition OF
Justice Story as its own. That def
milton covers both the narrow and
the broad understanding of the
term. Its most restricted sense
comprehended traffic in goods or
buying and selling in commerce and
exchange" Manifestly, neither the
association, its members nor the
hospitals are engaged in that sort
of trade.
Nor do they, in my opinion, come
within the broader class of manual