THE MEDICAL PROFESSION.

Taranaki Daily News, 6 July 1916, Page 3

T HE MEDICAL PROFESSION.

SERIOUS ALLEGATIONS. fn the House of parliament last weekMr R. Fletcher (Wellington Central), said that only a week before last a Udbngton medical man had rung up five different medical practitioners, asking them to come and help him administer an anaesthetic and every urn- refused The last of the five admitted that his refusal was in accordance with a resolution passed by the British Medical Association. Such a case could only be met in one way, by striking the names of such men oil' the roll. The British Medical Association was the strongest combine of trades unionism in Wellington, or in the Dominion, and he wanted to suggest to the Minister that he should take such steps as would put the matter on a proper footing once for all. They could not in Xew Zealand tolerate anything like the action of the British Medical Association. Mr. H. (i. Ell (Christchurch Sonfji) said that it was the most serious charge ever brought against the medical profession in the House. Parliament had no right to dissolve until they had given some Ministei authority to'enable pressure to be brought to liear upon medical men who did that sort of thing. STATEMENT BY MINISTER. The Hon. G. W. Russell said that the British Medical Association were to be thanked for the great assistance they had given in regard to research in connection with cancer, etc. But he regretted that there had been shown a tendency to conduct the association not only on the lines if a trades union, but on such lines that if they were adopted by any labor union they would lead to resentment all over the country. Tn taking the ac (inn referred to, the British Medical Association were going a great: deal further than the people of the country would allow them to go, and a great deal further than he was prepared to allow any iirofessional men to go who were acting under the protection of, an Act of Parli: ment. But. as Minister of Public Health, he had no power to deal with the matter; and the only way he could deal ,vith it. and he would be prepared io do so, would be to immediately call, in such cases, upon one of the doctors in the employment of the State to go and administer the anaesthetic. Mr. Fletcher: "Bring in legislation as they did in Australia." Mr. Russeli "I am prepared to do so." A DOCTOR FOR THE DEFEXCK. At question time. Dr. Tlucker (Christchurch East I said that they had heard a lot of ranting talk that afternoon about the medical profession. It was the most loyal of the Associations there were for protection of humanity. If any man did not belong lo the association they wanted to know why he did not belong to it. There were good reasons why some men did not belong to the British Meilical Association—it gave them a larger range of practice: (hey worked with men who had had their (nullifications taken away, and who in the eyes of the profession v,(-rc quacks. How could men who worked with quacks expect men who respected their degrees and their profession to be at their beck and call and hurry awav to thorn at a moment's notice? When they had to give an anaesthetic to a patient they wanted to know the qualifications of the men who were going to perform the operation. There was a lot of clandestine, work done in the country, and if an honest doctor once got contaminated by one of these semi-nacks then he was practically condemned for all time.