From the November, 1919, issue of The Health Bulletin, published by
the North Carolina State Board of Health
Early in September a nurse doing school inspection work for
the State Board of Health in a small town wrote the county physician of that
county the following letter:
“There have been several reported cases of diphtheria here,
and certainly there appears to be a good deal of sore throats going the rounds.
Dr. T……. on his own initiative, so I am told, visited the school here to
examine the throats of some first-grade children, being zealous for the good health
and protection of said children. He used his pencil as a tongue depressor,
going from one child to another with the same instrument (a lead pencil) and
wiping it off on the sleeve of each respective victim. He examined a number of
children in this manner. The teacher suggested they would soon get some tongue
depressors. But he went again the next day, I believe it was, and took some
sticks he had prepared, using them over and over again on a number of children.
Some clean depressors were then urged upon him, and even with these in plenty
he persisted in using these on more than one child. He probably was bent on
inoculating them with, at least, a proverbial peck of dirt. Can you do anything
to stop such criminal practice on innocent children? This is the fine preface
for my work, where I urge individual use of cups, spoons, and everything of the
sort. I have this information first-hand.”
The country physician thus appealed to, and, by the way, one
of the best and most efficient in the State, immediately wrote us to this
effect:
“I see nothing that I can do in this matter, any more than
swear to myself and refer this letter to you for your consideration. Any
publicity from me on this in the way of going after such personal ignorance or
carelessness would, as I see it, be worthless, but I think that your office
should promptly and properly bring to task men who would practice such ungodly
methods.”
The only comment we can make on such procedure by a man
holding license to practice medicine in North Carolina is that better men have
been hanged for less grave offenses. The only fit place for such a man to be
turned loose is in the penitentiary or a hospital for the criminal insane. As
publicity is a cure for a good many evils, in future it will be the policy of the
State Board of Health, when authentic evidence of such practice is presented,
to publish the whole affair, giving names and places.
It is interesting to note that the same physician stirred up
his town some six months ago by stating to the parents of a child who was
paralyzed as a result of diphtheria, that the paralysis “was caused by the
antitoxin” and that the child “did not have diphtheria.” As a matter of face,
which the most prejudiced physician must admit, diphtheria antitoxin can no
more cause paralysis than could the same amount of cold water. The simple fact
is that either through ignorance, or prejudice, or carelessness a diagnosis had
not been made until the consulting physician called in at the eleventh hour
insisted on using antitoxin. The paralysis following proved beyond a doubt that
the child had diphtheria and that the antitoxin was simply used too late to be
effective. Osler once stated that as a fact there are more cases of paralysis
noted since the use of antitoxin became general than before, for the reason
that the patients which now have antitoxin administered and are later paralyzed
were the ones that previous to the use of antitoxin always died in the acute
stages of this disease, never living long enough for the resulting paralysis,
because of the severity of the attack.
O, Childhood, mortal man will probably never know the crimes
committed in thy name!
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