MEDICAL ETIQUETTE.

NZ Truth, Issue 117, 14 September 1907, Page 8

MEDICAL ETIQUETTE.

CANT AND INHUMANITY.

There is an old army story which relates that a sentry on his post came across a man hanging, who appealed to him for .assistance. The sentry, being a disciplined soldier, did not respond, but waited for the officer of the guard to come. Mean-' while, the man died. When the officer came, he at once ordered the unfortunate man to be cut down, and severely reprimanded the sentry for allowing the man to die. ' The. soldier answered, "I could not leave, my post without the orders of my .superior officer." This extreme case very much resembles the case of those inhuman doctors who, ou the pica of medical etiniiettc, deliberately refuses to go to the aid of persons who are m urgent need of attention. These cases, are constantly being brought. before the public, and valuable Jives are every day being sacrificed to this childish and absurd worshin of the fetish '"medical etiquette." The other day. m Melbourne, a coroner's inquest brought to light yet another case, where it was proved beyond all doubt that a human life . was needlessly sacrificed by the cynical and brutal indifference of some medical men to • the frantic appeals of a despairing husbaml. who sought nid for his suffering wife m vain. At the inquest there was A HARROWING STORY told of the sick woman's . sudden relapse, of the husband's rushing to the doctor vvho had attended his wife at her confinement, and finding him cut, of his going m breathless haste to si>; other doctors, who brutally declined to come, on the ridiculous ground that the case was m the hands of another medical rann ; and, finally, there was the fearful tale cf the unhappy man's return home, at twelve o'clock, and finding bis wife dead— beyond the reach of all doctors, and their miserable cant— and all through the want of a little, skilled assistance, which was with-, held from her by the asinine slavery of these unfeeling men to their great god, "etiquette" ? Who arc these doctors that they should be m a position to disregard with impunity all the dictates of common humanity, and compassion, and withhold the aid- which it is their duty to give to those who are suffering ? Why should they be allowed to commit what practically amounts to constructive murder or manslaughter, and escape unpunished, beyond a mere reprimand by a coroner ? The man, who by wilfully and capriciously abstaining from doin n< something which will save a fellow bcin^ m peril, caused the DEATH OF THAT FELLOW BEING, is as much -guilty of murder or manslaughter, as the man who caus-

Ed the death of a human being by a direct act. The one is a. sin o! omission, the other is a sin of commission. In either case, the person who causes the death is guilty and deserves punishment. If an engineer discovered that his engine was 'killing a man caught m the machinery, and 'did not at once stop the machinery, he would be certainly sentenced for manslaughter. But the doctor escapes, and "why ? Because he pleads that "medical etiquette 1 ' will not allow him to save life under certain circumstances. He says that he is hound by the rules of the medical profession, which forbid him to go to the assistance of a person m extremity, if another doctor is attending the case, even though the other doctor cannot be procured when urgently needed m a sudden crisis which means life or death. How would a wretched, dullish plea like this be treated m a court of justice by a judge ? If Bill Smith, on his attendance being suddenly required, sent a message that the etiquette of his profession would not allow him to come, as the case had nothing to do with him, how would he fare ? How would that plea he treated BY THE GREAT TRIBUNAL' before which we are told all humanity will be arraigned to answer for their sins of omission and commission ? The laws of humanity do not recognise the petty little rules which go to make etiquette. They will be obeyed at any cost, and it is the duty of the State to see that they are so obeyed, and that the people who ignore them, whether doctors or anyone else, are punished. "Etiquette" means literally a "label," so it has come to mean a conventional form or observance. Medical etiquette is the "label" of the union or medical trust formed by doctors. But etiquette and form can easily be pushed to an absurdity. We all remember the story of the unfortunate King of Spain, who was kept shivering m the cold without a shirt to warm the kingly person, and who got a most unkingiy chill and died from the effects thereof. All because the high State officials whose sole privilege it was to hand the King his shirt, could not be found, and no one uii'der the rank of a marquis was allowed to PERFORM THE SOLEMN OFFICE. There is a Meat deal said nowadays about i'ho iniquities of Steel Trusts 'and other monopolies, which bear heavily on thi community at large, and. there is a growing demand for their suppression, as bein"- •hostile to the true interests of humanity. Surely it is time that something should be done to check the aggressive and hurtful operations ox ether more aristocratic and exclusive trades unions. If a trades union of ordinary wharf lumpers or artisans adopts, rules and regulations that are allegedly hurtful, or supposed to l~- hurtful to the rest of ife community, the law quickly steps m and says that such regulations arc "against public policy," and aro vo>kl. Ami so Bill Smi-th has to do v;-liat tha law tells him. But m tho case of the aristocratic m-edi-ical trades union, the law evidently {does not interfere, even though valuable human life is hourly endangered and sacrificed by the exercise of the nonsensical rules of the ''profession." | Moreover, doctors differ from every | other class of the community m their I vocation. They arc m a sense ser--1 wants of the public. They are educat|cd !.«y t-bs public. The object of Stats | education and I ENDOWMENT" OF UNIVERSITIES lis not for the private gain and projfit of ths particular individual who [benefits by it, so much as it is for j the public advantage and good that j people should be thoroughly educated ■aceor-rimg to their vocations, ar.d je-ive the community at large the bcinefit of their skilled knowledge. Mo.re j especially is this the case with docjtoi's, who are trained whether they ipay their fees or not, very largely at the public expense, for without tbe universities and hospitals., which arc founded and maintained by private public charity, it would be impossible for them to 'gain that knowledge and experience m the art of healing which alone enables them to practice their profession- Our public hospitals give them every facility for learning that profession, and m return it is only just that they should give the • public every opportunity of benefittin-g by that knowledge, instead of hedging themselves m by farcical rules and ceremonies, and turning what is a noble calling, into a canting institution of shams. If the common dictates of humanitY will' not make these men do their duty, "Truth" says it is time .that the State should step m and compel them to do it, as stories such as we allude to m this article make us blush for the civilisation of the age.— Brisbane "Truth."