Letter of C.R. Agnew on the New York Code.

  • Agnew, Cornelius Rea, 1830-1888.
Date:
[1882?]
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Letter of C.R. Agnew on the New York Code. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    3/8
    THE NEW YORK CODE. To the Editor of The Medical News. Sir : In your brief comments upon my note to the Louisville Medical News, touching the existing New York Code of Medical Ethics, you quote from the editorial comments of that journal as follows: “We imagine the thoughtful reader will find no little difficulty in following Dr. Agnew through the premises which seem to have led him to the conclusion that to protect the public from quackery the medical profession should take the quacks into fellowship and thus publicly rec¬ ognize them as physicians worthy of confidence and affiliation.” It will take the intended sting out of the comment if I simply say that I have nowhere said any¬ thing that might fairly, even with the exercise of the imagination referred to, be construed into any such proposition. The existing Code in my State contains the following clauses : “Members of the Medical So¬ ciety of the State of New York and of the medical societies in affiliation therewith, may meet in consulta¬ tion legally qualified practitioners. Emergencies may occur in which all restrictions should, in the judgment of the practitioner, yield to the demands of humanity.” Now, you will observe, that the first clause is permis¬ sive, not mandatory, and any member of the State society, or of affiliated societies, may avail himself of the liberty accorded or not, as he chooses, and its operation is confined to legally qualified doctors. The second, or emergency clause, as it has been called, simply authorizes a practitioner to answer any call,