Show POPULAR ERRORS IN MEDICINE AND SURGERY I 1 ADDRESS or OF im DB G W PERKINS or OF OGDEN PRESIDENT or OF THE UTAH STATE MEDICAL EDICAL 74 SOCIETY AT ITS MEETING IN SALT LAKE CITY OCTOBER 5 isor 1897 rellow fellow members of 0 the state medical As your presiding oni aar for tile the a must annual meeting it Js my privilege and pleasant duty duly to open the by some come LI marks per fain ng to the subject of our profession protes ilon I 1 am well adoro that you have not come here to listen to any long ions draft n jut dut essay front from me arid and I 1 shall ayk ask your Indulge lor for only a L short hort time before me e proceed to ON true business of 0 this gathering the reading and ula dis casion of papers upon medical ques lines I 1 thins lions in detail I 1 take it thit that you will not care for an n elaborate clA borate falper attempting to cover all branches or of medicine in A general nay and will therefore limit my remarks let nark to a andall number of subjects alth ith the tha of 0 rilo qing the ot of greater enlightenment lighten ment 0 of the public at large upon matters concerning both I 1 h leq gallenta pal lenta and us ui as ag their medical attendants I 1 nin ante an te that abir 11 I 1 straw that has haa many times lie fore been hoVd but it seems to me that thi ills rel relationship existing n the arefe slon and thle aho balty has home aonia flat changed its aspects with the do de v lopin nt lit u the science and art of 0 w aisle and surgery sure ery and the widely I 1 diss t medical information in n tile die public prints ot at the few ew ean to buy any thinking man AA it la Is evident thul flint tile the taste or of the ilia modern newspaper 11 ding public require a tea sea s cited mental alca sad jid the purveyors to this tutu taste have not nol hesitated to draw apoi upon mi dl al sources soure cir to give piquancy to their their dishes americans americana are CL a newspaper reading people arid and tho the inevitable result has been that they have acquired a considerable amount of or less leas inaccurate information upon a urge number 0 of s and 0 of them consider themselves quite capable of de deciding elding ques questions Lions of diagnosis anid treatment upun upon the smattering of 0 kno knowledge ledge they possess now new I 1 know ot of no subject to ishield the axiom that a little knowledge to ie a dangerous thing thine Is more applicable appi leable than to medicine and et there la is certainly no pro fes slon science art ait or trade u upon pon chlon so BO little evidence fi ld nce of adequate training ning Is 13 required by the people p ople this thia attitude la Is probably an inheritance from tho the dark ages agea of 0 medicine when ini mye ye and the empei played p such ledding part parl lu lit the treatment of 0 disease and pathology was unknown DOMESTIC it bola baa been aptly said that domestic dom eatlo modI modistine tIne reflected the practice tico of a for mt mer generation of 0 physicians but vh xv etner irether tills jf in to hold true today and in the future I 1 regard as doubtful tho the enor enormous moun strides of advancement in all branches of at medicine and surgery during e even en the past decode decade with tho the widely heralded knoNk ledge amona the maoises masi ses Is 13 beginning to make of them active inquirers or of the by and wherefore ot of hat we do when summoned to attend them and I 1 believe it Is our duty to ourselves to t give them in simple language langu ae the reasons tor for what lie its advise for by this means only can we expect them to obtain correct ideas ideal ot of the value of a physicians advice and far from thus making of them self pre scribing rt pAl lenla lents I 1 think it will have the opposite effect by opening their ebes to the fact that opinions and ad oce fcc are given elen only after the consideration and of 0 points entirely lyond L yond their ken the day of 0 the look awls and say aay noth lne physic physician lan Is passing TaM ln and he who would keep the respect and confidence of his patients pat lenta rest to auit be ba prepared to give them good and valid reasons for or his conduct of their cases I 1 do not mean that the doctor is in to obtrude a didactic lecture upon every patient catl nt he treats but merely rive give sue suc and tit I 1 completion bible to an inquiring enough information to satisfy his reasonable cu flositz lie he does not want mant to steal yon your r pro arofo filon sion and the more he learns there la is to it the less likely will ali he be to think ho he knotts knoer it all he already ailts lilts hn some borne dim ideas of 0 what A bat the nat nature u of lila trouble la Is though the b 1 1 itice that they are very hazy and largely inaccurate are arc strong anil and it if his medical attendant Is not flat to set him lit and satisfy his mind who la is to do soa so the til sooner physicians convince ohp th public that the practice of medicine 1 is not IL 0 mystery the secret ot of WIN which ich ore are open to only EL a chosen few ew but an art acquired by patient study eludy and investigation which la Is capable of 0 being acquired by anyone 0 of average intelligence and fair air education the sooner mill that public learn to require adequate qualifications to in those mho a bo profess to treat now it ie 18 too much to expect that GENERALLY will eo 90 out 0 of their way to have their eyes opened on this thin subject they do not sea se medical publications proper but do often encounter in their dally daily papers articles on mold medical leal subjects which they look upon a gostol and in fit which they do not separate the wheat from tile the chaff I 1 do not here have reference to th 0 ordinary r quack advertisements will c h SO BO disfigure all american Amer loan news papers with will their lying byln clate ments tt it arre wf rc a thankless than kleas task indeed to waste the time lime of 0 this with any nolle of 0 them put but there Is a class a OS articles article used by the makers 0 of newspapers as to nil fill out their thi lr columns when other mater tiLl Is a pearce and amona them are to be found many disquisitions upon medical and surgical surel cal naturally the strange and marvelous features predominate in these theme articles and race moet t or of them undoubtedly err on the tide alde of at overstatement find and to make them palatable to the seeking reader there Is enough that Is true in the progress pro itress in the art rt of healing and I 1 doubt if P physician nYs Ician wishes to claim any can herbest honestly he riest be claimed claim of for or more we his than team 10 11 I 1 believe there 14 1 4 now preva pro pre lent among amone the laity tendency to ascribe to medici medicine and surgery L grester power in the control ot of disease than their them themselves claim aim or op desire to havo imputed ca to 0 chem them take as a notable instance a ot t this the tuberculin tub ercul n treat treatment ment of koch which as riven given such wido notoriety a few cw years ago afo md and a half dozen other so called cures tor for consumption which have been widely exploited during the tha past few years and which tend havo have but oil f the same fate medicine 0 of today Is 13 in a transition tran sitio 71 state mind no man can predict w what hat will ito bo the practice ot of th future PhYsIc physicians lans realize that the many new methods now on trial are tentative tent atly e and that lime allm an and ol 01 large experience alone can determine tie their value patients and their 11 friends ends are too apt pt to give full credence to the efficacy of such new measure a as they hear of and too often tire are they sadly madly ons disappointed at right here the house houle physician physic ian has it in his power by IL a few words of judicious ludl clous explanation on to boundless set met right the crecene often give elven measures e ures of and perhaps of to doubtful value I 1 believe it la is only hy by uch such methods ath 8 of personal explanation that the people pie can he be in ical c mado to rep ceo I 1 measures allu in their spec tive and n of perspective appreciate r clat at t least bom mo to extent ext the ill reasons re so pro find and lor r their pie en con NOTE NOT EXACT LeNCE medicine la 12 not and from ron jim t very nature can never bf be in an exact enact r science clence each came must have I 1 and d ell y study lly y itself and be given must their due eight in its management this N 1 a feature that few now bioti people can under understand 3 tand or apar I 1 clate they argue that I 1 it t mr A took dull antl parine for his fits headache and vas aa therefore ihei eforo Z A iio ho Is 18 anaemic and has a heart lesion lealon should take loke ilia same drug for or her li tn a dache adache in other urling they do not u usually get eel beyond tile the most pro prominent I 1 symptoms arid and under dying causes ore are not nol sought tor for or bus ua petted A little explanation liy by the physician in much a case would surely do much to convert that family to a knowledge kanom ledge 0 of their utter ignorance upon medical matters mal tera ond and they would be far less leal likely to attempt to 10 treat themselves again there ore are sometimes nonie mome times fortunate meet d denta ants jn ill the course courna of cases chich P pa L nt clonts puts IN ong fullY ascribe to something lone by the physician find for or velch they may bo be eager caser to give elie him undeserved crP cipuk tIlt 1 hold that in common honesty jl it Is its his duty dirty to disclaim any special for such an event and to explain that att fh fhone Lne Is alono responsible and lit in um ss iss it troy may bo be not only a question of 0 linni sty but fien even of the tive tires or nf oth othir bihr ir alanta a lenta airn im hirly f it mich inh expatriation lie be not nol madi poi I or Ins lAnu ii a patient who has h had ball repeated atta ks of 0 appends rills for which rip bation lias has been advised by his in ellAl attendant finally nally Il in un lin acute comes to a surgeon to have done it he 1 I given a laxative as ai tv a pi preparatory ep slit p arid and sallile at tool stool a x quan iuan my 01 tills pus from kith relief relict of ills his and subsidence silence ot at ills his tamor th improvement men t begins at C once nice and tire the operation 15 f unnecessary I 1 ite to xi the re au it to the singh cathartic inid end want a to publish to the that on app append 1 EN aes we un neLess it A and tells lella his friends that thai dr blank alik has to in give only one desp of 0 medicine to make a patient pass INN ills appendicitis through the bowel it mut must be obvious to tin all that failure to explain the true n matuie a p 0 of I 1 such an occurrence and to welhalm all agency in jig its causation won would at id be almost criminal the doctor knows that the result Is due to a fortunate t u n e t r nance hance only and that N ft here one such abbess ruptures into tile the lumen 0 of f the intestines many rupture into the peritoneal cavity and llight up a quickly fatal septic peritonitis moreover ills his on oan profession stand standlee lne ng among his follow fellow physicians would not be elevated if 1 lie acquired a popular reputation uron upon such a foundation ANTI the people at large laire have obtained some borne knon ledge ledee ot of the modern practice of antiseptic meal measures jures but they as yet hardly appreciate the meaning of aseptic conditions nor do they understand that tho the use of antiseptics Is tor for the purpose of obtaining asepsis to illustrate this we need go no further than an eve everyday lyday obstetric case no doctor doat 0 r would today escape criticism it he had A case came of puerperal fever in hla his practice and a very few fatal cases of this kind would finish his hia obstetric work in any community of ordinary intelligence and yet in spite of all the precautions the doctor can take such complications may result the ignorance stupidity or as of th the a family have nullified nul lined hla his efforts find and though the friends may believe that all necessary precautions pree autio nir have been taken it if some antiseptic solution has been used he knois there has bas been a failure to secure an aseptic condition and too often has not tar far to look to find many possible external sources for infection fec tion filthy drains and outhouses out houses near the lying ln in room or sewer connections through plumbing fixtures in it undoubtedly cause some cases but probably d bedding and clothing the rag rae bas bag draur upon tor for napkins dirty hands arid and fingernails finger nails nalls an and d unclean syringes nie are responsible for fr more who among us has han not lying ln irl bed made up with soiled boned sheets that have been lit in dally daily a for or a week or two before and when clean ones are aski ask of tor for been met with the reply what W hat Is the use they will get flirty dirty anyway we will 1111 put on clean ones onea after it li Is all through when clothe for or bathing and napkins are arc wanted how flow many times do we have handed us irom from some dark unventilated closet or corner a bagful of fragments frag menti ot of tile the woi 01 bout underclothing of the whole family for nobody knows how many years past it if we object to these we fire are told that each piece was washed before it was put away in the bag weeks or months before it if a syringe la IS wanted any old one that has been lying about the house or la Is borrowed from 9 a neighbor la is good donough nou irh and so examples might be multiplied but these are sufficient clent to show that a wide field for or popular edu education callon in the direction of simple cleanliness alone exists exist and simple cleanliness carried out to its utmost Is all that modern i in it has taken the profession centuries to learn that cleanliness 1 Is tile sine quil qua non of success in wound treatment and to the appreciation 0 at this simple foundation fact surgery owes its ita present proud position the tha family washbowl ler was the ORIGINAL sterilizer but r the family nor the physician cla n knew lt it tile the families do not nol know it yet C I 1 bu but i tile physician has just i learned what a valuable ami unappreciated clat CI all ally it has been and he should he be valuing filing A to give rive this humble in domestic BY appliance its full tit meed cod of praise it would cold liet lie t unworthily fill a place on the nuart quartering ering of a surgical Eurg ical coat of arms the leama he con do in recognition of its past unrecognized assistance Is to lo promulgate till in virtues among his patients tj nt and insist on its intelligent u ue e a in the conduct of surgical surg le at and obstetrical coes cases in private house it if this Is done it will be but a short time before the value of heat sterilization ns its a preventative proven measure will be recognized and employ ed in every ho household and and will not only avert much needle needless cs suffering and danger dancer from his bla patients but will aill make his own duties f far ar pleas anter and easier during the he past year the xray X ray in its applications n to turnery surgery and medicine has attracted more attention from both the profession an athe laity than any other one subject the approach to the marv clou and seemingly impossible has haa aroused the he grea greatest teut interest on every es cry hand and as aa Is usual with rith all now flow discoveries much more la is un undoubtedly expected front from lt its U ue than will be justified by future exper experience I 1 it already has an all established position in certain lines of work anil and ill in time find further appi application lation in n one of 11 ilir best recognized recognised applications the examination of fractures ha has been opened up a possible ond and o nd even probable pro bablo ct of a considerable sider sid |