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 21
Years Ago
Despite seedy image, rubbers
bounce back
NEW YORK — The condom, long thought of as an anachronistic
form of contraception, is enjoying a renaissance. Drug
stores across the United States are reporting booming
sales — up 50% from last year in some instances.
Physicians are believed to be the main force behind
the condom comeback. Though it has yet to be proven
categorically, the consensus of medical opinion holds
condoms to be the most effective preventative for the
emerging AIDS threat. Doctors have been telling sexually
active patients to buy rubbers — and their patients
are listening. Manufacturers are doubly appreciative
of the physician endorsements because of the inherent
moral difficulties in advertising their wares. In a
typical case, ads for LifeStyles condoms featuring Dr
Ruth Westheimer were rejected by Turner Broadcasting
because "Dr Ruth is a proponent of sex for pleasure
and we did not want to be seen endorsing her views,"
said a spokesman.
Source: The New York Times
5 January 1986
124
Years Ago
In praise of opium
PHILADELPHIA — At long last, the serious medical
journals are turning their attention to the effects
of opium on the human body. A study in China Review
notes that the quantity of morphia, the principal narcotic
agent, present in a sample of opium has little bearing
on Chinese smokers' opinion of the drug. The perceived
quality of the drug has more to do with its smell. The
author, Dr Hugh McCallum, concluded that until science
proves opium smoking is truly harmful "the Anti-Opium
Society and its supporters are not justified in branding
the opium trade with infamy or the lovers of a pipe
of opium as degraded beings." Another study by Dr W
J Moore compared opium favourably to alcohol and noted
that for the Chinese the drug "is a comfort, a solace,
a necessity, and often a blessing."
Source: Philadelphia Medical
Times 17 November, 1883
137
Years Ago
A call for black physicians
NEW YORK — Five years after the United States Civil
War ended and slavery was abolished, Washington is abuzz
with a debate over whether blacks should be allowed
to practise medicine. The New York Times weighs in on
the issue: "We should be sorry to recommend that a sick
white man should be compelled to call in the services
of a black doctor. But if a negro wishes to consult
a physician of his own hue, why not if the patient desires
it?" The anonymous writer also argues that Caucasian
physicians needn't worry about lost business. "We cannot
suppose that white doctors are afraid of the competition
of negroes. In all probability, even a black man will
always continue to prefer a white doctor. "
Source: The New York Times
7 May 1870
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