RESERVISTS CHARGED

Grey River Argus, 24 February 1942, Page 4

RESERVISTS CHARGED

SURGICAL OPERATIONS Not Undergone DIVERGENT MEDICAL OPINION. R.A. CHRISTCHURCH, Feb. 23. Charges of refusing to undergo remedical treatment to fit them for service in the armed forces, were preferred against foulr reservists in. the Magistrate’s Court. Mi - .E. C. Levvc-y was on the bench. The accused were: Frederick Gearschowski, Wallace Peter Ireland, Alan Robert McKenzie and George Edward Rumble. Ireland pleaded not guilty. The charge against him was adjourned. Gearschowski pleaded guilty. After he told- the Magistrate that he was now prepared to have the necessary operation performed on him, he was convicted and was remanded. McKenzie pleaded not guilty. After the hearing of evidence, , he said he would report to a specialist at the Christchurch Public Hospital. His case was, adjourned. Rumble pleaded not guilty. He was sentenced to imprisonment for | two months. The police said Rumble has been graded IA. Remedial treatment for his varicose veins was necessary before the reservist would be fit for service. Rumble refused to undergo an operation. Rumble’s counsel said that Rumb-.. le’s two brothers also suffered from the same complaint. In order to try to effect a cure the brothers had undergone operations, and injections. Instead of their being cured, their veins were in a worse condition, and one brother was now almost a cripple. The accused suffered no pain, and had no bad health. He was quite prepared to serve in the Army, either overseas or in New Zealand in his present condition. The Magistrate sentenced Rumble to two months’ imprisonment. He said the accused would have to be treated as a defaulter. The police said that McKenzie also needed remedial treatmnt for varicose veins, but he had refused to arrive at the hospital after arrangements had been made for him. He gave as his excuse that his back, which had given him trouble for about ten years, was causing him pain. Dr. L. B. Stringer' said .that he examined McKenzie .when he would not attend hospital. In his opinion, McKenzie’s only disability, apart from the complaints of back ache, was varicose veins. McKenzie’s counsel: "It is true that the treatment of varicose veins is a matter of some divergence of opinion in the medical profession ? Dr. Stringer: ‘‘Yes. That may be so. But I understand that, .before treatment is given, all cases are examined by a specialist at the Christchurch Public Hospital. Dr. Stringer said that there was undoubtedly a number of failures, and he had heard of patients dying because of the operation. Counsel said at this stage that McKenzie said that he was prepared to undergo examination by the specialist, so long as he also received treatment for the back.

The Magistrate said he would adjourn the case till March 9, “to see what happens.”

Further Sentences ON MILITARY DEFAULTERS. P.A. CHRISTCHURCH, Feb. 23. Seven men, who had been called for service with the armed forces, and who had already served sentences of imprisonment for three months for failing to obey orders, appeared in the Magistrate’s Court, charged with either refusing to submit for medical examination or refusing to draw uniforms. In each case the accused was sentenced to imprisonment for two months, and thereafter to be detained in a defaulters’ camp. The accused charged with refusing to attend medical examinations were: Ronald Wallace Black, Richard Joseph Kelly, Eric Crawford Marshall and Alexander Wilson. George Edison Collett, Thomas Patrick Connelly, and David Carl Arthur Marr, were charged with failing to draw uniforms when ordered to do so by a superior officer.