Report of the trial of an action : Charles Lowell against John Faxon and Micajah Hawks, doctors of medicine, defendants, for malpractice in the capacity of physicians and surgeons : at the Supreme Judicial Court of Maine, holden at Machias for the county of Washington, June term, 1824, before the Hon. Nathan Weston, Jun., justice of the court.

  • Lowell, Charles, 1793-1858.
Date:
1825
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Report of the trial of an action : Charles Lowell against John Faxon and Micajah Hawks, doctors of medicine, defendants, for malpractice in the capacity of physicians and surgeons : at the Supreme Judicial Court of Maine, holden at Machias for the county of Washington, June term, 1824, before the Hon. Nathan Weston, Jun., justice of the court. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by the National Library of Medicine (U.S.), through the Medical Heritage Library. The original may be consulted at the National Library of Medicine (U.S.)

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    iaon of the left hip joint. The defendants were called in, ';;k Faxon, then Hawks; undertook to reduce the dislocation, and failed. The patient continued in great uneasiness and pain lor four or live days. At the end of this he sent for Dr. Ha But Dr. Hawks discovered so much indifference about the case, that the care of it fell for a time entirely on Dr. Faxon. Whether tin's neglect was from carelessness of the fate of Mr. Liowell, or any feeling of a professional sort towards Dr. Faxon, with a view to throw the blame of the consequences on him, it was in either case equally injurious to the plaintiff. On the 12th September, Dr. Hawks was again sent for by the plaintiff. On the 2'2d, he came and made a short visit. The last of September or first of October Dr. Hawks called and ex- amined the hip ; pronounced that it was doing well ; lulled him into false repose with the hope that he would soon be better ; and left him with directions to send for him when he was wanted. On the 23d of October he came again and repeated his exami- nation : at this visit he first discovered the leg to be longer, as it will appear in fact to have been from the first. But notwith- standing this, he still neglected to take the proper means to rem- edy it. Eight or ten days after this Dr. Hawks was again requested, and again promised, to come unless some uncommon accident prevented. But he still failed to make his appearance. On the 19th of November he paid the plaintiff a transient visit ; and being then sensible that the injury was not cured, engaged to come again the next day ; but he never did. The ensuing December the plaintiff becoming able to take a VO] e:e to Boston, there underwent an examination of the learned faculty and submitted to an operation under their supejriniend at the most celebrated hospital iri this part of the country. The result of this examination established the fact that a dislocation existed—and the effect of the experiment showed that it remain- ed unreduced. Should it be set up in defence of Dr. Hawks that this case did »ot come within his usual sphere of practice, which it might be pretended was principally confined to Eastport, it would be shown that this was the ground on which he was accustomed to practice. If it should be pretended again, that he was under engagements at Eastport, it would appear that he might easily have procured othei attendance upon his patients there during his merely tem- porary and occasional absence. If the great name of Dr. Smith should be made use of on this occasion to shield the defendant