Evening star. [volume], April 04, 1937, Page A-7, Image 7

About Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972

Image provided by: Library of Congress, Washington, DC

                
Admit Costs Too High.
Changing Concepts Are
Outlined.
Sr Me Associated Press.
NEW YORK, April 3—The Ameri
can Foundation, after 18 months of
Inquiry, made public today an ex
haustive survey of medicine in the
United States, with special emphasis
on the problem of making "adequate"
medical care available to a large por
tion of the population now without it.
The report, titled "American Medi
etne—Expert Testimony Out of Court,”
immmarlzes an extensive correspond
ence with leading doctors, surgeons
and specialists in every State, chiefly
those that have been In practice 20
years or more.
There was no questionnaire. The
correspondents were asked to com
ment freely on all phases of the ques
tion of whether they felt any change
was needed in the present system of
medical care and, if so, in what di
rection.
The report makes no recommenda
tions Rnd sets forth no program of
its own. The foundation, established
And endowed by the late Edward W.
Bok, desired only to illuminate condi
tions and present a comprehensive
Analysis of the entire structure of
Aiwurioon r»vr>Hirw*
Economics Part of Problem.
The summary of the report, pre
pared by Esther Everett Lape, mem
ber-in-charge of the foundation, says:
“The problem of medical care is bound
Bp with the social and economic prob
lem as a whole and can be accu
rately analyzed only In this connec
tion.
"The parties in interest are the
medical profession, the public and the
Government, and all three must
‘search together' if the answer to the
problem of supplying adequate medi
cal care to the whole of the popula
tion is found."
The report sets forth, in the views
of the correspondents, all of the
alternatives to the present organiza
tion of medical care:
1. The status quo with some changes.
3. Thorough-going State medicine,
With Government doctors.
3. Compulsory insurance with three
contributors—the Government, the
•mployer and the employe.
4. Various forms of voluntary insur
ance, including hospital insurance.
5. Limited State medicine, integrated
With private practice.
Under the latter, the report con
tains suggestions for the extension of
the public health services, tax funds
lor hospitals, extension of facilities
lor tax-supported hospitals. Federal
funds for research as the basis alike
for preventive as well as curative medi
cine and a Federal department of
health.
Health Department Indicated.
“A Federal department of health,”
the summary says, "is frequently pro
posed as justified under the present
powers and degree of functioning of
the Federal Government in matters
of health, and as imperative with the
proposed increases in this functioning
Indicated by the present appropria
tions of the social security act. and
by such proposals as Federal grants
tn-eld for the care of the indigent
*lek.“
The doctors* letters show that they
know costs are too high for average
incomes and that there are many
groups and regions in the country
that certainly do not have "adequate"
medical care. But even these things
•eem to them secondary to the press
ing need to produce better medicine,
to find and train a constantly better
grade of men able to apply the re
sults of modern research to the cure
of disease and, above all, to its effec
tive prevention.
The real new deal in medicine has
tn a manner already taken place—
owing nothing to legislation or social
planning. It has been going on for
a generation. It consists in the
phenomenal development of medical
•oience itself, with a consequent
Bhangmg conception of disease and
of health. And with these changing
conceptions comes a change also in
the doctor's function, a change in the
public's idea of health, and in the
nature of the services of the doctor.
Change Still Incomplete.
The change in attitude is as yet
incomplete, on the part of both doc
tors and the public. There are still
doctors that insist that their field is
“curative medicine" only: prevention
they would still relegate elsewhere. To
this dwindling group, the cure of dis
ease is still the dignified function of a
"liberal profession"; while prevention
is the anomalous activity of a hybrid
type of medical man grafted onto a
•octal worker. The public also comes
along only slowly in its recognition of
a sharply changed emphasis. Those
that will willingly pay a fee to have
a boil lanced will, still resist paying
for advice that might keep the boils
away.
4'^viiivt.io iiitui' ovuvn/i jov uiwro
ray that medical students veer away
from courses In preventive medicine,
although stirred to enthusiasm by the
clinical study of rare and devastat
ing disease.
To fire thp students’ imagination
something more will be needed than
field trips to milk plants, sewage out
falls and filtration plants, and lec
tures on environmental sanitation and
communicable disease. The study of
health itself will have to find its true
place in the orthodox medical curric
ulum before the world can be geared
to the vision of “positive” health.
A number of doctors clearly feel
that the resources of medical science
or» now most insufficiently used for
the advancement of human produc
tivity and for enjoyment of life. Some
medical scientists of notable achieve
ment writing in American Medicine,
betray disillusionment in the net re
sult of their labors, and in the nega
tive character of much of their work.
Too much of the doctor's time and
•nergy at present go into the scientific
oare of the unfit, too little into in
ereasing the competence and the pow
er of the fit—or saving it from hazard.
But even prevention, it appears, Is
only half of the story, as the pre
venter of disease the doctor is still
Just within the negative orbit. There
are those that look to a yet higher
functioning for him as the promoter
and conserver of positive health.
The modern conception of disease
and the possibility of controlling it
certainly does not blend well with the
old idea of the doctor’s walling off
curative medicine for himself and
leaving prevention to the public health
men. By that conception the private
practitioner would be working year
after year in a steadily diminishing
field while the real conquests of science
were achieved under other hands.
Leaders of medical science are the
first to see that if the private prac
titioner Is to be enlisted on the cura
tive side, it must be as part of a co
operative attack.
What of the public? How fast Is
1 *
Plain Dogs Have Their Day
* * * *
Mutts and thoroughbreds
mingled yesterday on the
Monument Grounds in a dog
show conducted by Gordon
Hittenmark. WRC's “time
keeper.” No. 1—Miss Ada I
Sherier, 5016 Conduit road,
leads her 8-year-old pet,
mostly St. Bernard, which loas
awarded the blue ribbon. No.
2—Joanne Tait, 2, daughter of
Mr. and Mrs. Joseph A. Tait,
poses with Udo puppies, a
combination of wire-hair and
Selyham. No. 3—These pups
“also ran,” but Mary Goode,
10, of Mount Rainier, loves
them just the same. The
mother is a poodle and the
pups are someichat Boston
terrier. The mother won a
prize for the oldest in the
show (8 years) and the pups
for the youngest <one week).
—Star Staff Photos.
* * * *
It traveling toward a conception of
positive health?
A hopeful view is expressed by many
contributors to American Medicine.
The public, like the medical student,
still tends to approach health via
disease, but the public also is on its
way. "Already the average American.”
says a member of the Harvard faculty,
"has more knowledge of disease than
the best read physician of a few years
ago. * * *”
"Very dangerous, this half knowl
edge of the public,” says one irritated
medical man who sees no hopeful sign
in the layman doing business in taking
blood pressures on the board walk.
And what of the Government? If,
as the medical world and many out
side it seem to think, "planning" is
about to reach medicine, will this
Government planning for "the organi
zation of medical care" be animated
mainly by the old conception of cure
of the sick, or rather by the possibility
of controlling disease and promoting
positive health?
-- > -
Hyland Methodist.
"These Followed the Easter Gleam"
is Rev. K. G. Newell's subject at the
11 a m. service today. At 7:30 p.m.
he will speak on "The Ascending
Road.” The service will be followed by
a fellowship hour on "The New
Hymnal.”
The Epworth League topic at 7 p.m.
is "Some Groups Help Us to Live at
Our Best.” Intermediate League at
7 p.m. Junior League Thursday at
3:15 p.m.
-•-—
Gonzaga Alumni Dance.
The annual dance of the Gonzaga
Alumni Association, proceeds of which
are to be devoted to the scholarship
fund, will be held Friday at 10 pm. in
the Continental Room of the Ward
man Park Hotel.
EDUCATORS ARE URGED
TO ‘TEACH DEMOCRACY’
Ohio State President Suggests
IT. S. Form of Government Be
Emphasized as Superior.
KT the Associated Press.
COLUMBUS. Ohio. April 3.—Presi
dent George W. (Rightmire of Ohio
State University urged educators last
night to emphasize the American
form of democratic government as
being superior.
. "There is much in our Government
and society that we believe in on this
side of the ocean; why hesitate to
affirm it and to make of it a principle
of life and action?" he asked.
Dr. Rightmire suggested teaching
democracy "as we teach economics
or physiology.”
He adressed the convention of the
Ohio College Association.
While other forms of government,
such as those of Mussolini, Stalin,
and Hitler must be considered, Dr.
Rightmire said, "there is a con
certed cry that the educational pro
gram must make democracy a major
objective.”
-■ • — l
Eaces for Nome Derby Title.
NOME, Alaska. April 3 (4>>.—Win
ner of the first two laps. Albert John
son, White Mountain Eskimo, set out
with his dogs today on the final 26
miles of wind-lashed snow in quest of
the Nome Derby title—and $300.
-•
No Justice Here.
BUCYRUS, Ohio (/P).—Jurisprudence
is practically non-existent in the
Crawford County village of Tiro.
Trustees of Auburn township were
unable to find a successor to Frank
Dickson and Frank McConnell, jus
tices of the peace, who died recently.
< NEW
! SMALL
j GRAND ^
j Only 3 foot f inch long
I Typieolly Knob* in Tone,
j In Quality, In everything
but thlt new lew price.
I
9
IASY Tf IMS and gaad
allawanca an aid plana
KNABE K11LS
—n ir-AWHim»*ABT virr
V >,
J. S. DEPARTMENT
Possible Federal Licensing
of Physicians Also Sug
gested in Report.
f
A Federal department of health,
erected on the foundation of the pres
ent Public Health Service, and possible
Federal licensing of physicians are
among the suggestions In a survey of
the opinions of a large body of Amer
ican medical men made public today
by the American Foundation Studies
in Government of New York City.
A group of 134 eminent physicians
acted as an advisory committee for
the foundation in making this survey
and representative opinions were ob
tained from all classes of medical prac
titioners in all parts of the country.
High Cost of Medicine.
There was wide agreement that ade
quate medical care is not now avail
able to the American people as a whole
due to high costs, the geographical
distribution of physicians, and the lag
in applying the latest findings of medi
cal science in practice. There was also
almost unanimous agreement that the
improving of medicine Itself was a
more important problem In the long
run than that of lower eo6ts or better
distribution.
Year after year, it is pointed out in
the report, additional diseases are con
sidered as endowed with public inter
I
est which warrants Government func
tioning.
"A Federal department of health Is
frequently proposed as justified under
the present powers and degree of
functioning of the Federal Govern
ment in matters of health.” the sum
mary of the report says, “and as im
perative with the proposed increases
in the functioning indicated by the
present appropriations of the social
security act, and by such proposals as
Federal grants in aid for the care of
the Indigent sick.
"There 1s passing reference to the
possibility of interpreting, presumably
by constitutional amendment, the gen
eral welfare clause of the Constitution
to enable the Federal Government to
establish a national health authority.
If this Is not done, even under the
present constitutional limitations the
Federal grants-in-aid principle already
Invoked by the social security act pro
vide* room for the evolutionary de
velopment of Federal health function
ing.
PARKING METER COINS
DISAPPEAR IN GROUND
Omaha Official* Seek to Avoid
Tearing Up Sidewalk—Flaw
in Installation. I
by the Associated Press.
OMAHA. Nebr.. April 3 —A lot of
nickel* are going to waste here dally
and city officials are perturbed.
The city is Installing nickel park
ing meters downtown, but they have
not yet officially placed them in opera
tion. Nevertheless, cautious motorists
are dropping their Jitney* into the
machines.
Mayor Dan B. Butler was told the
nickels were rot being collected and
wondered where the money was
going.
Coin boxes have not been Installed
In the meters and the money is
dropping through the standards and
coming to rest six Inches beneath
street level, he reported.
The errant nickels can't be re
covered without removing the meter*
and tearing up the sidewalk.
[. Sloane
711 Twelfth Street
SOUVENIRS OF THE SPRING EXHIBIT
If you attended the Spring Exhibit which was held Wednesday, Thursday and Friday evenings of this week,
you perhaps noted these exceptional values in Bedroom, Dining Room and Living Room Furniture, Oriental
Rugs, Tru-Tone Broadlcom Carpets, Lamps, etc.—"high lights" in the display.
Of course, as promised, no goods were sold during the Exhibit evenings, but we are giving you an oppor
tunity now to make selection at the special prices at which they were assembled.
The Bedroom Group Illustrated
If is in the Colonial Room on the Fifth Floor, and is a splendid example of the Colonial period. Construction is genuine
Honduras mahogany; the posts of the Twin Beds are effectively reeded and terminate in gracefully turned ^
fimals. Both the Bureau and Dressing Table have curved fronts and the Chest-on-Chest adds a most ™
attractive note to the ensemble. Complete in 8 pieces. Regular Value 9355. Special Souvenir Price
In the Early Colonial Room is another Suite that attracted special
. attention; a marvelous interpretation of the Early Colonial school,
done in solid Honduras mahogany. The low' Poster Beds with the
acorn tops; the Bureau, Chest and Knee-Hole Dressing Table are
prominent details of the design. Finished in the
deep, rich, red tone. Complete in 8 pieces.
Regular Value $300. Special Souvenir Price
In the French Provincial Room is an excellent interpretation ot the
thought in the rual French motif, executed in genuine Amencan
walnut. Handsomely carved and finished in the soft, brown tons
characteristic of the period. Complete in S pieces, aa
Regular Value $360. Special Souvenir Price
Two Special Dining Groups
Cuban and Honduras mahogany, with Side
board, China Cabinet and Server typically
Sheraton. The double pedestal Dining Table
with handsomely turned base and brass claw
feet; Chairs covered in blue horsehair cloth,
all add their charm to this most attractive
group.
Regular Value $262.50
Special Souvenir Price ™
'Cuban and Honduras mahogany, with the
inlays of satinwood. The beautiful contrast
of the woods is one thing which made She'a
ton famous, together with the pleasing pro
portions with which he designed, and the
wonderful craftsmanship with which he ex
ecuted.
Regular Value $330 aa
Special Souvenir Price j
Special Pieces for the Living Room
The Colon Love Seat, designed to key
with all interiors, but especially correct with
the Colonial. The simplicity and comfort of
the model has made it extremely popular.
Tailored in blue damask.
Regular Value $118 BA
Special Souvenir Price *^^F jr ^
•
In the Queen Anne Living Room is a
handsome English Lounge Chair, with sep
arate pillow back and seat cushions filled
with genuine down. The Cabriole legs are
carved, and the tailoring is green damask.
Regular Value $118.50 ^BA
Special Souvenir Price ^
In the Early Colonial Room you saw th.s
present-day adaptation of a Colonial Fireside
Wing Chair with graceful cabriole legs of
solid Honduras mahogany and tailored in
quaint tapestry.
Regular Value $49.50
Special Souvenir Price
In the Early Colonial room is an American
Chippendale Sofa with ball and claw feet,
handsomely carved. The back and arms ere
gracefully curved and the piece is tailored
in deep, rich, red brocatelle.
Regular Value $192.50 f* A
Special Souvenir Price ^ A
... Ay.