"HOMOEOPATHIC TREATMENT"

NZ Truth, Issue 570, 20 May 1916, Page 5

"HOMOEOPATHIC TREATMENT"

WHAT WAS «AIB AT A DUNEDIN INQUEST BIfSEY lAWSON'S fITH IN DAVID WiSHART fi:U:h (jortiter Bartholomew's Remarks Wishart Assumed to Deal with Matters Somewhat Beyond him ■■■V ■:•'■•■■■ ' ; < '■'..■■'. . ii i ■ ■ I- ■ ■••' : : v; ..-.:"' ;.:■'■■■;.; . „-.f~l ~~~ . ■' „-'•. ../. /:;'' : ;XFrom"TruW^ ©unedlu Rep,) „. . '

Last Saturday, at Dunedln, an An* quest waa "held by Mr. J. R. BarthOlOT mew, Coroner, touching the death, ol brie Mrs, Betsey Lawson, who had dlea on the previous day under rather unusual circumstances. She had not been attended by any qualified medical man, but m he* last illness had accepted the services Of one, David Wlshart, who claimed to be~ ' . A CO^miTINS H^MOEOPATHIfeT. It appeared thai'wheh Mrs. Law Son finally coUapsed,- the ; relatives rang- up Wlshar^/|ivho declined fo believe the news, am further, declined to come, and, advised them" to' ring up Dr. StephenspS. George Lawson, husband of deceased, said that his wife's age' was^,47, and her health had been very fair until a fortnight agp, when; she contracted ' influenza. Mr. D. Wishart had attended his wife for minor complaints for some time, and Wlshort came to see her after tha Sunday oti which she had I token to her bed. He had left somo medicine, and continued to attend, until Thursday. On Tuesday they rang up Dr. Fit2gerald, but he was not able to oomo. Deceased l>ad every confidence In Mr, Wishartinnd the Uftter said she was getting on well on the Thursday. A 6 o.m. on Friday witness thought his wife was. sleeping. She was then very quiet, but tnero -was a rattle m the throat from phlegm. When the' daylight was let into the room jho saw that she was sinking rapidly. 13y the time he had roused his daughter deceased lay quite still. They rang|up Mr Wishart and told him deceased was dead. Mr. Wishart would not belleve^lt, AND DECLINED TO' COME, ■ ■ He advised them to ring up Dr. Stephenson. Up till Thursday night they had considered that there was littlo jwrong with deceased., Mr». Wlshart had attended her previously for^ indlgeslton, and for a alight lump on the breast, for which she had been faking medicine up to the time of her last illness Witness had been under the impression that Mr. TTishart was a qualified man, otherwise he did not think he would have engaged him. Had he known tho deceased's condition was serious he would have colled In a, doctor. /'• ':?";■: ;■. . '■ -.-•', Lilian Irene Lawson, deceaseds daughter, said she thought her mother had been recommended to go tp Mr. Wishart by someone he had cured, She : knew Mr. Wlshart was not a doctor, but thought him qualified m h)S line. Deceased seemed to get jenuch better after Mr^wiafiartHßa treated nor. on Monday or Tuesday morning deoeosod asked her to : ring up *Mr. Wlshart, which she did, Mr. Wishart arriving at 10.30. He took deceased's temperature, told them to keep Hter warm, and Stated that he thought she had slight congestion/ He l^ftvmedicine, and instructions whldh were followed out. He came again next morning, altered the medicine and led witness to understand that deceased was a little hotter. During the day he used to ring up, and deceased had told, witness that he had "been very attentive. Mr. Wlshart led witness to understand that the trouble was not serious, otherwise she would hove obtained a trained nurse. He at no time sounded deceased. Ho rang up

Thursday deceased had appeared to believe that she would be up. m a few f** 8 -, She satd/ahe was being well & t > k v d i^ter by her daughter and Mr. Wlshart. David Wishart said he was A CONSULTING HOMOEOPATHIST S«o^, Vlße^ p l ople who were *» and u^t^'.J 1 * did; not put any llmitaS s ° n tne icase^ he treated. He had f^?ilSv^ t^ i 5 r^ Issouri Homoeopathic •£& !?' v^« k^tblhad fafied him. He ■-sS?fl fn dI i 6 ft d * or sl^ m °nths, tbut >.c had •3? wo r 1° yea rs before under the late S^S 3^ 688 ' ®i modlc »l man who had graduated and been converted to homoeopathy. He had treated deceased since September last f oT tndl|esSoi? and for a swollen gland on the breast ■taSB &**!*<****** morninFhe thl n Si- suffering from all »,,« J^ 10 " 1 ! ot congestion of the lungs. To relieve, the congestion and p^n_ toe prescribed for the patient By BJ£?» <te ? Bl l e had oo«n entirel/reJ®V«f Aa there wa, mu oh rattling a dkf^n? S^ Onch < a he P^scrlbed St2l-fK?> t i ni^ l 9 i11 *' aa ' a was Informed n»M e( L °« Thursday morning the patient said she felt weak but was steadily improving' SU! to a sudden or fatal termination. Mrs. Lawspn had remarked to him: "I shali do top to see you nsJrt week." He could not account foAhe collapse of^the £ a " ent « .except frojn heart failure.^Ho : ££*?^ e 5 con 8f 9S "oa :Pt the lungs SSKf'?f tlmes t: a »a»»ad never once SLh; H T was *^ who anSwL * K M i aa > I CT lon o^ the* telephone, had. sa d. x . ••nonsense, ohlld.ffiWi^2»M*«A»ta* to gTwa« t^atyho hod advised*- them to send for in* to transfer the matter to Dr. Stophenson was that Kfe COULD NOT DO ANYTHING. He considered the condition of' the patient serious, but not alarming In r^!5 lDff tho p i tlerit i h * d W not use chest The falling of the temperature and the allaying of tho pain might nave been due to another cause than Improvement, The actual state of tho lungs could be determined by other means than the stethoscope—by the ear. A gradually falling temperature ?T fty^ y ». day vaa a *ood Indication, Under homoeopathy everything possible was done for the patient that could have been done.. Whenever he found a case getting beyond his skill he advised that a doctor be called m To Sergeant MoKeefrey: He knew perfectly well , that Dr. Stephensoa would not give a certificate. J)r. Roberts said ho examined the chest of deceased and found sevvni pleurisy of the left side, consolidation of the upper half of the left lung, constituting pneumonia and pericarditis of ,the membrane of the heart. Th« cause of death was heart, failure 'from toxaemia. The case was clearly one of pneumonia with pleurisy nnd pain: which latter disappeared after a tlm© >whenr the consolidation of the lunßs was completed, but returning towards the end of the illness when the" lung wa« recovering.? P*rlcardltis > w^» a danger always to be feared. Judginjr from tho post-mortem appearance the condition of the doooasod '! iWAS A VERY dRAVB ONE. ) Nothing had been said about the char, acter of tho pulse, which was very important. The comparatively low febrilo temperature was an Indication that the constitutional resistance was weak. The symptoms of bacterial poisoning wero sometimes accompanied by 4n apparent state of well bofng -which might decelvo tho tnoxperlenccd. Tho area of tho Infection should bo gathered by Btethoscoplq examination bt the choat, one of the chief values %t the stethoscope being- tho exact location and extent of on internal lesicfa. Thin" could bo roughly determined by tho car. With the conditions present, which would havo been revealed 6y the stethoscope, any case of tie kind mum have beon regarded is dangerous. The cessation ct pohi was mcroly the soquonco of too jdirV-f ;«!. «nd t^o imagtno that it oqujd ihoiutvibutcd to a drug was quite wrdftV. Dcviil Wlshart recalled said he h&d tulton the pulse ovory morning, which \v«« rather lower than might be expectod !n ouch a condition. He did not lulu- Hit? number of pulsations. Dr. Huberts, continuing, said that he did not think that tho patient's death I had been accelerated by the treatment m any way. If a qualified medical man had been m attendance ho thought the ultimate end would havo been tho same. The Coroner sold that deceased had not been intended by a, medical man. bdt by Mr. Wiahart, who cUUmod to bo v homoopathlsu It was evident that ho had NOT REALISED THE GRAVITY OP. THE CASE when callod In, but had thought the case was getting on nicely, and had so informed the daughter. The evidence of Dr. Roberts showed that if n stoihoscoplo examination of tho chest had been made lt would hay© aisoloscd the location and extent of tho lesion, and tho gravity of the caso. It would be a oomfort to the family to know that In Dr. Roberts' s opinion the treatment had not affected the final result. It was unfortunate that the family bad believed the patient ,traa reviving tho qualified medical treatment *bo should have had la hor condition. It ■oomrd to him that Mr. Wlsbart assumed to deal with matters somowhat beyond him. In tho present cuo, however, the result would havo boon tho name. Tho verdlot returned was that 6o&\h was duo to cardiac failure, duo to toxaomia.