THE "QUACK" RESTRICTION BILL.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 13693, 8 September 1906, Page 7

THE "QUACK" RESTRICTION BILL.

I TO THE EDITOB. Sir,—The report of the debate in the ■ - House of Representatives on the Quackery and Other Frauds Provision Bill is very ■ interesting reading. The bill is one-of vast possibilities and exceedingly far-reA- ■ ing in its provisions. Tho following clause from Mr Hornsby's speech must commend itself to every right-thinking man: "Certain advertisements have boon withdrawn from New Zealand papers in consequence of some of those representations, but they wcro appearing again now. The victims of thoso harpies were to be found in'all the mental hospitals of tho colony. Tho object of tho bill was fo trovent the advertisements which kept their trade aJiv c ." Now, from this standpoint, the object of tho bill is undoubtedly most comraertdahJe. The blackguardism that attaches itself to somo of tho advertisements jeforred to can only bo guessed at, although it must be admitted to the credit of the Now Zealand nowspap'ers that many of the worst type of such advertisements have teen refused insertion. It appears to mo, however, that" this is but a small part of the bill/ and' • this idea 19 being used as a cloak for . inaugurating one of tho most drastio laws . ' which it is possible to make, and thin 16 nothing else than tho constituting of medical _men and chemists as a kind' of special departmont undor Government patrotiage._ in tho first placo, the. bill evi- ' dontly is aimed at tho suppression of proprietary medicines, unless the • same arc manufactured by registered chemists; and, •'. m tho second place, every medicine put) on the market must-bear aJ oopy of the certificate of tho chicf heaJtH officer; and in the third place, a loop-hota IS , '6ft_ for the unregistered praotitioner tin advertise a medicament if ho approaches ' the chief health officer and convinces him! . of the efficacy of his article, and so seoure.4 : his certificate. This is ail very nice in* 'i' 1 "J lOl I" 3 ?' !s tl] ' e chief hoaltlW ameer; Tor the purpose of my argument! 1 am ignoring the personality of tho gentler man at present filling that position, and merelv dealing with the office itself. The more fact that a very ordinary medical man through political influence may be appointed to this position does not in any . .warJt him up the sole adjudicator ort,a 'question which may mean tho destroying of a firm's business or bring about the utter rum of an honest man, simply be- < CD.UBO tho product thov are selling may nob meet with tho i.pprovalof the chief health oHicer for tho timo being. Tho lack t>f unanimity amongst incdioal men is notorious, Wo all know this from experience !u i I 1? 568 ' Where a serson is eonvinocd that his case individually has been... wrongly diagnosed lie goes to another medi- ■ cal.man, or a third, perhaps,-and finally: receives a diagnosis which lie believes describes his disease and submits himself 7 treatment with satisfactory result*; • Y\ ltli regard to this particular medical ' man, who happens to tho Chief Health Otticer, tho poor maufacturer of a proprietary medicine has no appeal to any other medical man, bnt must submit to tho very costly process of appealing to the Supremo Court. This involves the . bringing forward of so many medical men. to' provo that tho preparation is good and so many by tho medical officer to, prove that it in bad, the judgo finally deciding which lot of medical men have most argument, on their side. ' This part of tho bill- seems to mo so grossly unfair that it is a wonder that all the members did-not agree with Mr Massoy when ho said that "tho Health OHicor was given too much power altogether." We heat a vory great deal about quack medicines, : but I should like to have a little legisla-.' tjon in the direction of restricting instead of extending tho power and influence of medical men. I think I could tell ono or two little things-that would load to a' recognition of the great danger of placing further power in tho hands of this par-., ticular'-profession; but anyono who has read, some of the transactions which have been recorded in tho papers of Now Zea-' Jand) lately; who have followed up' the. discussions on tho. subject of operations and a few otlicr like matters, will recognise,! the unwisdom of preventing tho manufac-' taring of simple herbal remedies and of : throwing still greater power into ' the - hands of. medical men. I yield to no ' one in my admiration for many of thei splendid men who practico medicine' in-; our colonies, but at tho samo time I am not blind to tho fact that .they havo intheir ranks somo of tho most 'wooden-■ headed individuals that can'bo found in

any profession, and I object to tho.placing/ of moro absolute power in the nands' of, such persons than they already possess. It is not 60 very long ago since this ques- . tion was up before. Most sensible people will, with Mr James Allen', approve the principle of the bill, as it relates to'"the vampires and blackguards who prey upon the ignorant ami credulous," a class Mr llornsby stated he wished to reach. < I think that 'if this bill is paS6cd in its . present condition the publio will wako ' up ono day to find that it has been trapped: by the insertion of clauses of which' it had no conception. It -will press particularly upon those living in districts ' far awuy from medical attendance, and, as Mr Massey remarked, " these provisions are much' too drastic against the distribution of simpk) remedies in the country districts," while the power assigned to the . Chief Mcdical Odicer is so ridiculously arbitrary as to suggest some criticism along lines that no editor, under the •present Libel Act, wouljl caro to insert,— \ I ' ~ ~ W •