THE DOCTORS' DILEMMA

Dominion, Volume 9, Issue 2820, 11 July 1916, Page 6

THE DOCTORS' DILEMMA

Sir,—A , grab for loot. always amuses the bystander. It is all Tery' well for ■the Medical Association to state fori bow few pence its members attend each lodge cjase. - Pure bluff. If it does not pay a ■ medical man' to take lodge: practice, why oh earth is there 6uch a scramble and rivalry to get the position? Take, a. lodge of 500 members at 15s. per head, the man chosen gets i£375 per anltum— easily earned,' regularly paid, and outof the 500 members .the greater proportion require no lne'dipal attendance at all dur-_ ing the year.' The doctor gets extra pay for confinements, operations, etc.,' and does not supply medicines. There; the chemist gets-his little haul, and no one is out of pocket except the. sick member: If said njember of lodge, his wife, or child is likely to require much visitingby the doctor, an order-is given for admission to hospital. ' The medical trades unionist is out: for war profits. Many good, men have gone to the front—others hold lucrative military positions, and the less distinguished medical . lights also clamour for a place in the golden sun. At present time it seems to a bystander a bit avaricious and unpatriotic for the doctors' union to strike, and demand 256. per member, i.e., .£625 per annum instead of .£375..

Lot me recommend n,nyone wlio desires r to study the inwardness of modern medical practice to read the preface to, Bernard Shaw's "The Doctor's Dilemma," si.xpennj edition. He says':—"Of all the anti-social vested interests, the worst is the rested interest in ill-health." Tho world moves round. Wo shall gradually arrive hack, ut the Chinese method of giving our medical attendant an annual salary, deducting from it * the periods the individual requires .medical attention. Still I would not go 60 far as to say hang the doctor'if the patient dies, a fine levied, on the Medical Association would be quite sufficient.—l .am, etc.. 1 ' BYSTANDER.