SUSPENSION REMOVED

Dominion, Volume 19, Issue 100, 22 January 1926, Page 9

SUSPENSION REMOVED

OF DOCTOR WHO ASSISTED

BONESETTER LOSS OF STATUS FOR FIFTEEN YEARS London, January 19. The Royal College of Surgeons has decided to terminate the suspension of Dr. Axham, aged 86, who was deprived of the right to practice because he assisted Sir Herbert Barker, the bone-setter, by administering anaesthetic while Sir Herbert was operating.

Dr. Axhain’s case aroused much discussion in the newspapers, the public considering that he was unjustly treated, especially as Sir Herbert Barker has been knighted. The effect of the decision is that Dr. Axham can now apply to the General Medical Council to have his name restored to the list of medical practitioners.

In an interview, Dr. Axham said: “I am an old man now, but my last days will be made happier. I shall lodge an appeal immediately. I am longing now to see some of the friends and colleagues whom I have not seen for many years.” Sir Herbert Barker said: “Dr. Axham first came to see me operate in 1905. He watched tfe for forty-five afternoons, and then said he was convinced it was his duty as a qualified man to administer anaesthetics for me. He believed what be did was a public duty. He never hesitated, and he paid the penalty by the loss of his professional status, which has lasted fifteen years.”—Aus.-N.Z. Cable Assn.

(Sir Herbert Barker, who is a specialist in manipulative surgery, came into great prominence during the war as the ''bloodless surgeon,” and was knighted in 1922, in token of his services during the war. He was not a member of the B.M.A.]