The Ypsilanti daily press. (Ypsilanti, Mich.) 1928-1962, 1945-01-06

only anu lHSA SAlAy Wa NebA
his column.
cillin when it becomes available
will be distributed to private ply
sicians and patients will not be
able 10 purchase it or use it on
themselves or their families.
in other words" comments the
letter, "the iron hand of the med
ical profession, afraid as usual
that the public might understand
how to take care of themselves,
has made itself felt. To give an in
lection, which means in plain Eng
lish to stick a needle in your arm
or leg, is a simple thing a child Of
Il can. learn to do and very etfec-
lively. Penicillin ought to be avail
able in all drug stores"
Such protests are a frequent ex-
perience to me. On general prin-
ciples they are quite understand
able. In this column l have aimed
repeatedly TO describe and make
known methods Of treatment that
can be used at home by the patient
himself or members of the family.
But there are certain definite
limitations to such practices. | re-
gard the most useful function of
such a column as this Is not to
teach laymen how to practice
medicine, but to make known the
possibilities of diagnosis and cures
modern medicine makes available
to all.
Excellent Example
The situation about penicillin Is
an excellent example of subject
about which the public ought to
know because it has so many pos
sibilities of doing good, but the
management and direction Of
which the public should leave en-
tirely in the hands Of the medical
profession.
have no doubt the writer of the
letter | have quoted has seen some
patient who has been taught to
give himself insulin for diabetes
hypodermically. II is fairly simple
and the doctors have encouraged
the patients to learn that. But the
rest of the letter is plain evidence
that the writer has learned his
medicine out Of books for the lay
man, has never been around hos
pitfalls and has never taken the
trouble to think about the difficult
ties which make him so indignant.
The virtues Of penicillin are
granted, but its difficulties are
that it does not stay in concentra-
ton in the body and large, even
enormous, doses have TO be given.
It isn't just sticking a needle in
the arm or leg, as the writer Of
this letter says. At the very least
it consists in getting the penicillin
into a muscle and usually it must
be administered as q continuous
drip with a needle in a vein with
rubber hosing attached from the
needle to a metal container hang
ing from a holder at the side Of
the bed.
Difficult Feat
Now I have tried to teach med
1cal students to take a needle and
get it in 9 vein. Even with the
brightest Of them it takes some
time. II requires some knowledge
of anatomy and some knowledge
of the dangers which may be en-
eountered. Sometimes when the
veins do not show plainly under
the skin il is really hell on earth.
The idea that a groggy patient
coming down with pneumonia
could do this 70 himself and ar
range an intravenous drip and get
up and change it when the amount
Of fluid is low requires a feat Of
the imagination that is little be-
yond my powers. That goes also
for a probably semi-hysterical
member Of the household.
1t seems to me 1t does relieve US
of the slur that the reason penicil-
lin is kept for private distribution
has nothing TO do with "the iron
hand Of the medical profession,
afraid as usual that the public
might learn to take care Of them
selves"