SHACKLED BY ETIQUETTE

Evening Post, Volume CX, Issue 156, 30 December 1925, Page 4

SHACKLED BY ETIQUETTE

Sir William Arbuthnot Lane is as outspoken as he is eminent in his profession. He resents the imposition of the shackles of etiquette upon medical men by their own organisation in respect to writing for the Press on medical matters. He probably did not refer to the medical Press, to which they freely contribute; but medical journals are,necessarily not for general reading. Sir William obviously had in view the lay Press, according to the cablegram published in "The Post" last evening. In this attitude he will have the general public, and we believe a large section' of the members of the medical profession, with him. The only reason assigned for barring medical men in Great Britain and the Dominions, from writing for the Press on questions concerning the public and health matters is that to do so would advertise themselves. v That is the affair of the profession; but the general interest in this matter far outweighs any consideration of that sort. If doctors are really in earnest when they appeal for the intelligent cooperation as well as the confidence of the public in pursuit of their high calling, they are more likely to get it through the daily Press than in any other way. In fact, the Health Department of this Dominion and its auxiliary agencies, official and otherwise, do realise the value of use of the lay Press in getting direct to the people. This was especially so in times of stress, as, for instance, the influenza outbreak of 1918 and recurrences of infantile paralysis. Individual medical men, too, have greatly helped in informing and 1 directing public opinion in proper directions, but have had to do so in fear and trembling lest their action be construed as "infamous conduct." Sir William Arbuthnot Lane evidently takes the view that the health and lives of the people are of more importance than medical etiquette. Who will venture* to contradict him 1 In the exercise of the greater freedom for medical men that he indicates, the possible risks of self-laudation are infinitesimal, compared with the benefits that would result from greater medical enlightenment of the people through the agency of the Press.