MEDICAL CHARGES.

Auckland Star, Volume LXVI, Issue 223, 20 September 1935, Page 12

MEDICAL CHARGES.

ARE THEY EXCESSIVE? LABOUR WANTS TO KNOW. The statement made by Dr. Guy Dain at the final session of the Medical Conpress at Melbourne, in which he expressed the opinion that the fees charged by Australasian doctors drove patients to consult chemists, Chinese herbalists and public clinics, has aroused interest in Labour circles. in Auckland. A move lis being made to bring the matter before the Labour Representation Committee, with a view to discussing the merits and demerits of the charges made by doctors and chemists in Auckland. Commenting upon the matter this morning, a prominent Labour representative said he could never understand why (lie charges by doctors and chemists should be so high. He admitted that in numerous cases doctors did not receive their fees, but he contended that the main reason for that was that the people could not afford to pay them.

"If the charpres were about half those at present rulingr I am convinced that the doctors would not only find their incomes at least equivalent to those which they receive now but also that more people would consult them. It is hard to understand why there should 'be such a discrepancy between the English charges and those of doctors in Auckland, even allowing for the difference in the standard of living. As a trade unionist one has to compliment them on their sound organisation and their apparent 'award rates.'

"To me the charge of 3/6 for medicine prescribed by doctors, a 'price which seems to be universal, requires some explanation, because nobody could believe for a moment tljat- the cost of all medicine, 110 matter what kind, should be the same," he concluded.