UNMASKS HECTIC SOCIETY

NZ Truth, Issue 1141, 13 October 1927, Page 5

UNMASKS HECTIC SOCIETY

Legal Lothario Sets Pace For Dunedin's " Smart Set" '

? . c (From "N.Z. Truth's" Special DunedJn Representative.) A comparatively young Dunedin solicitor, unattached and with a confirmed reputation as a legal Lothario, will, it is believed, m future blend a modicum of discretion with his selection of lady friends at dubious parties m seaside baches. mmimHiiniiMmmiiiimiminniimniimmnimiiiimimminiiiiuinimiuim

reply that the taxis had been ordered for 2 o'clock or thereabouts and there Srlie P r raCtiCally h °P6 °£ leaVing any ca So Cr the party resigned itself to another hour of inane conversation, but when, at the appointed time, the cars failed to arrive, the girls began to show some alarm. They suggested that someone should go out to a nearby house or shop, ring through to the city and expedite the departure of the taxis. But this suggestion was negatived by the airy assurance of one of the men, who said that there wasn't a •phone for some considerable distance, »muiiiiuut»»uMuaiiWHUiiiuinmtwiminmiw^

fHiiiimiiiiiimiiiiitimiMi»iiiiiiiiiiiiniiimimniiiiiiiimHi««iiiimnniminiw( IP one assumes that the average chemist is a man who closely watches the 'script he is dispensing, it migfct be said that the possibilities of anything m the nature of a fatal mistake are extremely remote, but it is certainly true that there have been cases where such mistakes — directly attributable to the doctor's almost indecipherable handwriting— have been caused. The Pharmacy Board, which nad this matter under their notice some time ago and is about to review the subject again, should leave no stone unturned to bring about the desired legibility m doctors' handwriting. An ordinary prescription was brought before the notice of "N.Z. Truth" the other day. It bore the embossed name and address of a wellknown Christchurch medico, which was a helpful indication that it was a. prescription. The writing on the document resembled the drunken meanderings of an ink-stained fly. To two chemists this prescription was taken to be "made up." Each produced a differentlooking and differ-ent-smelling concoction. One of those chemists had misread the doctor's written intentions. ~~ " Fortunately it was not a serious mistake The particular item was either "Spr Ammon Co" or "Syr Aurant. One chemist put m the former and the other the latter. Referred to each dispenser afterwards, both admitted that it was so written that they might have made a mistake. Actually, a mistake had been made, of course, and the doctors patient was the one being juggled with. Such handwriting as that of many of the medical fraternity is so appallingly bad that a child of nine or ten would consistently fail to gain admission to higher standards at school for it. Fair writing should be an integral part of a physician's "pass." There was another danger m the prescription brought into "Truth" office—and that was the writing relating to the quantity. w One grain, marked I, was so badly written that the doctor had made it more like' a V. Had the particular ingredient been a vital one, the difference, between one grain and five would possibly have had its sequel at a coronial inquiry. It can be said for the general body of chemists m New Zealand that they are highly qualified and generally are meticulous m the dispensing of prescriptions. •

Fatal Mistakes

"Oh, it's all right," was the soothing response said to have been given by the young lawyerlover to the anxious inquiry of h?« guests. "The cars won't be here till half-past five." By this time—3 o'clock—the thoughts flitting through the minds of the girls had changed from suspicion to absolute consternation, especially m view of the circumstances m which they found themselves. And as if to add misfortune to minds already over-laden with acute distress, the high wind sweeping across the n m

mumiiiiiiiiHiiiiHiimiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiMiiiiiiiimiiHtiHimHHimjiiniiiiiiiiiiiir Furthermore, they always— or nearly always — check over quantities of a prescription when there is a potent or dangerous ingredient involved. Often, after puzzling over the scrawl that masquerades as medical Latin, they ring up the doctor and ask him what he meant. This surely should not be necessary. To expect a doctor to be sufficiently educated to write ordinary grammar should not be imposing too much of a strain on his academic attainments; and yet, by this gauge, there are many who should be wearing the dunce's cap instead of the anaesthetist's mask. The subject was mentioned to several Christchurch medical men. The general view was that there was very little to confuse an experienced chemist; the danger of fatal mistakes was negligible, anything known as stringent was carefully checked by the dispenser and there was generally nothing to worry about. But there should be nothing to "confuse" even an experienced chemist. If the danger of fatal mistakes IS negligible, wrong ingredients m a prescription cannot be expected to have the desired and prescribed effect on the patient. Checking is imperative, but should not be necessary, and finally the whole trouble would be eliminated if doctors wrote moderately well. Chemists as a body, however, are considerably hampered by the writing of prescribing physicians. Even going the length of saying that mistakes do not occur, the maximum benefit is not finding its way to the proper quarter. Further, there is always the likelihood that some day a fatal mistake will occur and then it will probably not only put the bad-writing doctor out of business, but the man who certainly does not deserve it — the chemist, the one mos.t concerned having been put out of business for keeps as a result of the mistake. It may not be a question of life or death, but illegible twirls written with the wobbly hand of medical authority should not indirectly penalize the very hand that is paying for the treatment, Perhaps it will take a serious case to galvanize the majority of the medical fraternity into action, but it is abundantly clear that that closest of secret societies, the 8.M.A., should be asked seriously and fairly to take the matter up m the interests of their good name, their intellectual standing:, their pocket wallets — and the constant butt of professional stupidity. Poor Old Public