BECAME A DRUG ADDICT.

Auckland Star, Volume LV, Issue 285, 1 December 1924, Page 7

BECAME A DRUG ADDICT.

WOMAN'S ALLEGATION. | CASE AGAINST SALAMAN. j HEAVY DAMAGES CLAIMED. A DELAYED OPERATION. | I SOME ASTONISHING STATEMENTS. I A case of particular interest was before Mr. Justice Stringer and a special , jury of twelve in the Supreme Court j to-day, when Agnes Wright Stewart, a single woman, proceeded against Abram ' V\ alley Mahomed Salumuii, of Klivhor j' Pass. who describes himself as' an Indian herbalist, claiming £__."i0 general |, damages and ..21 3/ special damages for alleged negligence, nnd for pain caused by his treatment, from October, 19-3. to August, 1024. J Mr. Singer, with Mr. McLivor, appeared for the plaintiff, and Mr. Luxford, with Mr. .'hilar, for the defendant. I The case, said Mr. Singer in addressing the jury, wa.s a dreadful one. of an I unfortunate woman and her mother j nnd sisters lieing the victim and j dupe of wicked deception and trickery, j as the result of which tlie unfortunate woman was permanently injured. She was a woman .'lO years of age, who, until May, _!)__, was in health and rnijiloymenl, managaing a brunch of a business in Dunedin at .€■"> a week. Then she came to Auckland with her mother end sister. In February last year she developed exopthalmic goitre, and her i eyes began to fail. She was treated by j Dr. Lowe in February and March, and in April. 1023. she became an inmate of | Auckland hospital, under the care of Dr. Abbot, with Dr. McGregor Grant as consultant.. She was treated so that i her strength might be improved so that | she could undergo a vital and most | necessary operation. She improved j greatly in Ftren_.li, and put on 1_ stone ' weight. She left the hospital in June j to go home for a while prior to the pro. i posed operation. Later she was exam- j ined by Dr. Horton who found her to | be in nn operatable condition, nnd who , said early operation was the only I safe nnd proper course, nnd one which any surpeon of capacity could perform with safety and success. How Salaman Cured. Up to that time plaint iff could have been Bafely opcrnted upon nnd cured. She had no affection of the kidneys or lungs. Unfortunately, friends came to J see her. who advised against the opera- | tion and told her of the "wonderful man" Salaman, who could cure her without operation. Naturally the woman. in her nervous condition, was only too glad to he treated by this astonishing person of much marvellous powers, if he could successfully treat her. Salaman was Bent for, and he arrived in a taxi, which plaintiff's mother paid for. He placed n stethescopc to the sufferer's neck, and when he was informed an operation had been advised, he told her "your kidneys are very badly strained, one lung is practically gone and the, water is just one inch from your heart; and if you do not undertake treatment! in one week it will he drowned." He i fold her the goitre was only a minor I thing and he would see to that after. Counsel then described what he termed I the extraordinary mixtures and mcdi-, cines which Salaman gave the defendant. 1 To an interjection from Mr. Luxford. ; Mr. Singer declared Salaman was in ■ this case accused of fraud. Plaintiff's i sister also consulted him. and he made j an extraordinary examination of her by j placing the stethoscope on her neck" I and ankle, und said she had rheumatism of the ankle and prescribed the same; marvellous mixtures us lie had given the l sister with poitrc, whilst he treated j the crushed rib of the mother by I attaching a battery to the electric light; and putting the current to the ribs.; giving her the same plasters to be applied in the same manner as were the' plasters for her daughter. _ j When defendant was fold that plain-, tiff was getting worse, he said, "Don't worry mc; you are going on all right. In a'month "you will be running about. | Don't worry about the goitre." Defend-, ant described himself as an Indian! herbalist, but none of the m.diclne supplied were Indian herbs, and most were not herbal at all. Potassium iodide was prescribed nnd that was one of the most dangerous drugs that could be civen to a person suffering from exopthalmic goitre, though it was used in the common goitre of Bchoolcluldrcn. The Opium Habit. Not for nearly a year after his treatment was it discovered that the real basis of Salaman's treatment was opium as the result of which the plaintiff had contracted the opium habit, and it was questionable whether the condition could be successfully treated. Counsel contended that to have given the patient opium in this way was an | act of fraud, and that it was fraudulent for the defendant to have given a patient , prohibited medicines. Dr. Share was | using every endeavour to break the plaintiff of' the opium habit, and Dr. Horton had latterly seen the. patient, j and was alarmed with the change in her , condition ill the twelve months which had elapsed since he had previously i examined her. Operation nt the present ' stage was now absolutely impossible, the | doctors declared. Open? tion in the enrly ' stages of exopthalmic goitre was nearly 1 100 per cent successful, and the patient's j chances now would only be fifty-fifty, j But operation was at this stage out of j the question, for the unfortunate woman ] could not wnlk nnd would have to be j carried into Court. Even now. medical men would declare that there was noth- I ing wrong with her kidneys or her lungs. I though Sulaman had declared there was, i but her heart was in such a bad state, as the result of defendant's treatment, that it was impossible to operate —and I even if operation ever became possible, her heart would be permanently affected. Counsel concluded that the untold pain and suffering for a period of twelve months was a direct result of neglect and fraud on the part of a man who bad at Inst, after many years of conduct such as this, been brought to proper judgment. Alfred J. Parker. analyst and cdtisultinjr chemist, who produced an array iof bottles and pill boxes, stated that in bottles supplied to him by Miss C. Stewart, a sister nf the plaintiff, be found potassium iodine, and opium in tbe form of a paregoric, only slightly diluted. If the paregoric mixture wa = dispensed in a chemist's . h .p, it would need to be labelled poison. That .upjt'ieil by defendant iva- not =.. labelled. In an-«'rr to Mr. Singer, witness said that of tiic 20 medicines supplied none were herbal preparation-. They included glycerine, reduced iron, metbeline blue, pepsine compound and ammonbenzoine.

j Mr. Singer: ]>id any of the drugs contain poison.—Yes, they contained mix | vomica and digitalisc. Were there any Indian herbs in the 'medicines?— Not to my knowledge. | At this stage Mr. Singer mentioned that he hoped defendant would lie made Uo tell the Court where he obtained the | opium. | To Mr. Findlay, tlie witness said after being questioned regarding the medicine, that, if Miss Stewart took the "night medicine," she would get through it in seven days. Counsel questioned the 'witness at length regarding the compounds of the various medicines. One was on the lines of a well-known and frequently used blood tonic, while some pills were consistent with another popular patent remedy. Mr. Findlay produced a prescription given to the patient by Dr. Abbot iv the Auckland Hospital. After working it out. Mr. Parker admitted that the prescription contained one grain of opium. whereas thai given in a mixture by Salaman contained but a quarter of a grain. Sister's Evidence. Gladys Stewart, sister of the plaintiff, stated that, in May. I!>__. witness, her mother and plaintiff came from Dunedin to Auckland. In February, 11)23. the plaintiff's neck began to swell and her eyes lie en Ilie prominent. Dr. de Clive Lowe was consulted and prescribed. I'laintiir was under bis care for two months, the doctor diagnosing her case ns exopthalmic goitre, and saying that she would have to have an operation. She wont to the Hospital, hud X-ray treatment, and improved. Witness said that ber sister was quite satisfied with the hospital treatment but came home to save hospital expenses. Later, Dr. MacKellar advised un operation. She ulso saw Dr. Horton in October and on his advice it was decided thut her sister should go into hospital for immediate operation. She did not go, however. A ludv friend came to see her, and as a result of what she said, Salaman was called to the house. This was about a fortnight after her sister saw Dr. Horton. Salaman supplied medicine. The first lot was obtained by her sister's friend, and witness got the rest. She used to go to Salaman's shop every week for the medicine. She got three bottles of medicine and four boxes of pills and two plasters on her first visit. On the second visit she received one bottle of medicine and four boxes of pills. She received the same each alternate week. The first week she jiaid fl 0/0, nnd (he second week H/li, and so on, alternately. Her siste.did not lake all the medicine, so on the next visit witness told Salaman that she (witness) would not take the full issue. Salaman replied that she would have to do so, as he could not put his books out for her or anyone else. On one occasion her sister was in terrible pain, and witness told Salaman so. He instructed witness to tell her sister to leave off the "day" medicine and take the "night" medicine three times a day. Witness told Salaman, nt a later date, that her sister's neck was still swelling. Salaman answered, "Don't worry mc; she'll be all right." Stethescope on her Neck. When plaintiff was examined by Salaman. continued witness, he put the stethescope on her neck for a few seconds, und said that she was getting ion a!! i- ght. The plaintiff told Salaman 1 that .-. .• wns not satisfied with the I swelling mi her neck, but defendant told ■ her not lo worry—ho had first to fix up j her organs. At Christmas limp witness i had rheumatism in the ankles. She j went to Salaman, and he put the stethescope on her neck nnd said. "Yes, she ! had rheumatics, but her kidneys were ! bail too." He prescribed for her, and ! 'gave her the same medicine as he did i 1 her sister, also the same plasters, j | Witness said she did not have rhenma- j ; tistn. Her sister discontinued taking; i Salaman's medicine because she became I | very ill. On tlie second visit of witness, | i she told Salaman she did not want nny i more of the day medicine because her | sister had plenty left. Salaman told her j she would have to take more, as lie ! would not "put his books out" for anyone. Witness saw his wife, and slip said. "He is very irritable! sometimes. lie has had a big day." She told Mrs. Sal.im.in siie did not want nnv more day .medicine, and slip said: "Take it for peace's sake." So she took it, though it wasn't needed, and in each instance it was paid for. On occasions she had to j wait four or five hours to see Salaman. ■On the Inst occasion she saw Salaman he ! told her that lie wanted to see her sister us he desired to change her medicine. To Mr. Finlay: Witness said that from the time she was attended by Salaman she proceeded to lose health and strength, going rapidly downhill. Dr. de Clive Lowe recommended her sister to go to the hospital for special treatment. She was much improved by the treatment, and when she came home she was "up and down." (Proceeding.!