T.B. CURE?

Auckland Star, Volume LX, Issue 288, 5 December 1929, Page 11

T.B. CURE?

DOCTORS' STANDPOINT. WHY THEY CAN'T ACT. THE RESPONSIBILITY RESTS WITH THEM. When asked what was the attitude of the profession to the alleged discovery of a cure for tuberculosis, mentioned in last night's "Star,"' an experienced medical man this morning said it could not take any notice of the so-called cure until the author revealed the contents of the medicine used and the treatment. The vicar of the Point Chevalier church was no doubt quite sincere in his claim, but the doctors could not take cognisance of it 'so long as the whole thing remained a secret known only to the discoverer. The position in regard to tuberculosis was exactly on all fours with what happened some time back in Auckland in regard to an alleged cure for infantile paralysis. In that case a man, who happened to be a doctor, said he had worked out a cure, and offered to treat cases in the general hospital. The authorities said they could not agree to any such experiment until the treatment was revealed. They pointed out that they were responsible for the lives of the patients in the hospital, and if they permitted the use of some mysterious remedy they would be held responsible. The remedy might or might not be efficient, but the authorities were the responsible people and could not experiment in the dark. The medical man pointed out that from time to time similar claims were put forward, honestly, no doubt, but they had all proved to be more or less fantastic. In addition to the case of the infantile paralysis there was the case of cancer; then a man came forward with a cure for indigestion; and now there was the man with the cure for tuberculosis. It was quite obvious that the medical profession could countenance none of these things without knowing the details and the ingredients of the medicines. Anyone with an alleged cure must expect to be asked for details and proofs of genuineness before human lives would | be exposed to risk by any responsible man. The "Star's" informant recalled the case of Spahlinger, the famous Continental doctor who had reported the discovery of a cure for T.B. His treatment included the use of a complicated serum. He claimed that his treatment was equally effective on calves, and the British Government offered to allow him to experiment with twenty tuberculous calvee whose condition would be checked by comparison with the condition of twenty healthy calves. The inventor of the cure refused to accept the conditions, and there the matter ended.