Manawatu Standard (PUBLISHED DAILY.) Suivant la verite. MONDAY, APRIL 7, 1884. MEDICAL MAL-PRACTICES.

Manawatu Standard, Volume IV, Issue 112, 7 April 1884, Page 2

Manawatu Standard (PUBLISHED DAILY.) Suivant la verite. MONDAY, APRIL 7, 1884. MEDICAL MAL-PRACTICES.

The Wellington Post; bravery; strong article on the failure of justice in the ca*e of Dr Parry, sentenced at Dune din to four months' imprisonment \yitl»out hard labour tin 'a charge of n»:iiislaughter in a case of alleged neglect in a; confinement by which; the unt'oitiinate victim lost her life. Our contem— poetry pojiits-gM Chafe tlie womiiQ was mal-tieated and mutilatedih so tearful a manner by this incapable birute that she died an hour afterward" while her slayer never e\en returned u>;the place affceiHhe; attendants of his victim had " sent him out into the gaiden to get fresh air." Having literally almost torn her to pieces, he seems to have calmly taken" his departure and lt-ft her to die. • It is impossible to. co receive a, mope atrocious instance Of •the^grossestmal-practicer "As suredly we never heard of a more frightful case. From ..ti ( rst to last not the slightest point qf]a :^itiga;tjhg character" appears to luve been elicted. Yet, "niark tha result. , ..The of, this- hor* id deed ! wns indicted for manslaughter, and on the clearest evidence 'vas convicted. But he was recommended to, mercy by -a sympathisingjitry and received from an eqnally sympathising Judge the shamefully light f^oiitence of only Jour. mantfts' imprisonment without hard labour, at the expiration of which sentence ■he will b« free to go where he lists and to kill as many more hsipless patient us his "narcotic" inspiration may lead him to "mangle. W« have no hesitation in 'characterising this result as a glaring ■and scandalous I'uilnre of justice. Mttle 'short of the severest penalty that could be imposed would 'have met the. deserts of such a case, yet the criminal is Jet' off VitU a iigftiei^ chastisement, would liave J beeiV elicited ,, by < some trifling case of petty hirceny." It is surely eountiug human life very * cheap, that tho cost of its sacrifice ■should be so disproportionate. It? is sad to reflect that only now and again'' iia case of the kind com^s . jtp jl>ght, aart.

in invtr.tiguteil 0^ nil those, that fV.in titiio to time trmi.-pire, A\ r o liavn Wei.Mi Uliulo! ;icq.-.uuiit('ct witll the «ii:f,;ii|.S ot on'; nearly, it not <juit<' hh bsul »i.». ihat vderred to al')nve> In this case, also, the doctor liud to lie repeatedly roused out of his stupor, and urged t> do his sluty. When the critical lim<' for the . exetciso of his and experience came, he was unfit to do what was required, and the result was that the victim ot his neglect paicj. the penalty, witl 1 her I i fe. Sti-auge* :: to , ;sayj ahp, iiow difficult to get the medical profession to give evidence adverse, ..to.sJ)eir. felldw professfonals. Look at the action of the Medical Association in Dunedin actually petitioning the Govern ment' for a eoramut-ation of the fai* too-lenient sentence passed ! It is sad t" ihink how many lives may, have. been sacrificed to medical inconi-i peteuce, or incapacity through intoxication, and the^'clark secret buried in the' grave. We venture to say that the Government will not listen 'o this' sympathetic recommendation on behalf of Dr Parry. The remedy for all this must lie with the public. Let them refuse to employ or to countenance mediral men who are given to habits of intemperance, or who suffer an occasional-; recovery through the use of narcotic drugs; Recently we read in .an. Auckland telegram qtjn poor woman who was taken with an apopletic fit in an adjacent settlement, ,and after; remaining in it for twelve" hbur^ ilied Ju)r waut : of medical; aid; .'though jt^ere werd ; two doctors resident in the dis^ trict. ; The foreman of- the juiryiasserted that these two . were from , their ha'nts totally unfit and unreliable, and in fac<i were a idis. grace to the inadi? .cal pi'dfessiouj; . SJuch ( men will feel.no pangsof remorse Itecause . those lin.de.i' their case as patients die a lingei'ing death in agonj', who might under proper and skilful treatment [have .lived for years! What is it to. the besotted; secret worshipper dt the shrine, of Bacchus, or self-indulgent • victim of narcotics) that children are left motherless and husbands are widowed through the act or neglect. v Their, feelings are not susceptible to any degree of pity sympathy, or even remorse. Their humanity is steeled in alcohol, or their brtin ia saturated,, with narcotics. What does a Celestial, enjoying his brief dream of. bliss through the medium of opium, know of other sensations than ihose of the moment— un til the react ion sets in . It !is fear-y ful to realize the amouh't of suffering', mental and physical, that medical malpractices Have brought about. And when a glaring case is sheeted home, the accused^ gets ojff wi^h an utterly disproportionate seriteiice, and a number of his. fellows,^ry. out, for^its.com-^ mutation ! Are 'th'es'e •'th^-mert ;to wh'om 1 is eiitrusted life or death, and in whom we confide when those near and deaa to us are pr« strate with sickness, ani delirious with ; pain. „Sp long as drunken incapai)le doctors are allowed to practice, and their apparent failings are glossed over out of a mis-, taken sympathy, or out of a. too prevalent but utterly erroneous idea that because' a man is given to drink ho must' be .clever in his profession ; so long will lives.be sacrificed, and s>» long will the berpaved mourn the loss .of those on , whose tombstone should be n • engraved . the inscription; " Murdered, by~ the j medical attendant." „ „ ,