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51 years ago
MDs to gov't: give us our
heroin
LONDON — A growing
chorus of physicians is protesting the government's
decision to ban heroin. Many have protested that morphine,
which remains legal, is not a suitable substitute for
heroin in a great number of medical cases. Dr A H Douthwaite,
chairman of the Guy's Hospital Medical Committee, argued
that this "political interference" will cause untold
suffering in patients suffering from ailments like coughs
and pain. He added: "it cannot be emphasized too often
that heroin addiction in this country is trivial." Source:
The Times of London, May 19, 1955.
75
Years ago
Today's physicians have
much to learn from the ancients
TORONTO — Medicine should forget quick-fix
drugs and get back to treatment basics from Hippocrates'
day — namely water, sun and massages — urged
Queen's University brain specialist, Dr L J Austin.
He singled out cancer-cure quacks for criticism: "[We]
do not yet know how to cure it, so advertising cancer
remedies is really a form of cruelty." The Toronto
Star, May 1, 1931.
100
years ago
Ladies' vaulting ambitions
CAMBRIDGE, MA — Two Harvard-based physicians
spoke out against the trend of ladies engaging in vigorous
physical activity. Dr Sargent, Director of Physical
Training, feels that under no circumstances should young
women be allowed to partake in boxing, football, basketball
or pole vaulting. His colleague Dr Giddings was similarly
disposed: "Let us have [female] athletics for recreation,
but not for serious public competition." The New
York Times endorsed the professors' views, opining
that sport "would involve far more muscular and nervous
strain than is wholesome for the more delicate sex."
Source: The New York Times, April 1, 1906.
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