THE ETHICAL QUESTION. BY WILLIAM C. WEY, M.D., FORMERLY PRESIDENT OF THE MEDICAL SOCIETY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, WITH A NOTE ON THE SUBJECT, BY JOHN ORDRONAUX, Esq., M.D., L.L.D. Discussion of the ethical question suggested by the recent action of the Medical Society of the State of New York, has occupied so much attention among members of the profession and intelligent people generally, and embraced such a wide range of subjects, pertinent and not pertinent, in journals, in newspapers, and in socalled scientific assemblages, that the merits of the simple issue between the contending parties in the controversy have temporarily disappeared from view. The spirit which formulated the words to the apostle, "Thou wentest in to men uncircumcised and didst eat with them," has been imitated in matters religious, political, and social, through all the succeeding centuries, and latterly its full meaning has been realized in the attitude of the defenders of the old code toward 2 the adherents of the new. An act simple in itself, and covered by a few plain words of text, has set the medical world, or a portion of it at least, in a decided ferment. That which had been foreshadowed in the history of the profession in the United States and elsewhere, came rather suddenly to pass. So suddenly, if we may credit certain writers who have endeavored to pervert the apparent interpretation of events, that the change in the code of ethics in our State Medical Society burst, like thunder and tempest, out of a clear sky, or was sprung like a "smart trick" in the serious deliberations of considerate and conservative men. In the hurry and confusion of conversation, animadversion, public correspondence, and the universal newspaper comment which followed the action of the Medical Society of the State of New York in 1882 and 1883, the causes which led to a modification of the scheme of ethics in relation to greater comity toward practitioners equally accredited before the law, became strangely and inconsistently ignored. The period of "swaddling-clothes," referred to by a distinguished speaker on this subject, in which the profession had been wrapped by the voluminous essay of Dr. Percival, had been followed, naturally and of necessity, by a more fitting and appropriate robe of scholarly dignity, and, it may be said, of charity as well. The drift of professional thought in ethical questions had expanded from the confines of a prescribed rule to the widest range of personal and associate consideration. The obligations of the System of medical ethics adopted by the State Society in 1823, and the American code in 1849, have rested on the minds and consciences of physicians with very little appreciation of their seriousness and effect as guides to daily duty and behavior. Independent men in the profession, by which term is meant not bold, aggressive, or revolutionary men, but physicians of sober thought, elevated character, and positive worth in the community, have felt restless and impatient under the restrictions of all codes of ethics. Not that such men sought or desired opportunity to disregard the least or the greatest provision of any or all of the codes; they were too loyal to the profession, too constant in the discharge of every moral and legal requirement imposed upon them, to countenance irregularities of any kind, in life or conduct. At the same time they were sufficiently liberal and beneficent to seek to extend to others the freedom which they desired for themselves. The constant reminder to men ethical under all circumstances, of rules which they had no prompting to violate, imposed conditions which, as a whole, or specifically, presented the appearance of puerility or positive affront. The fullest emphasis should be given to the assertion, that exemption from the provisions of the codes is not claimed because of personal considerations, or as a means of accomplishing individual ends. Methods of escape under old as well as new codes are made ingeniously convenient to such unethical physicians as choose to practise doubtful expedients, while professing adherence to the commands of the written law in medicine. Doubtless, the System of ethics of the State Medical Society, while it met the approval of the profession generally, was contemned and viewed with small favor by physicians who felt disinclined to conform to its high order of requirements. Some must have despaired of their ability to attain the standard prescribed. From the standpoint of the present time of writing, it is difficult to conceive of perfect acquiescence in its comprehensive scheme of morals, unless inspired by that more than heroic impulse, suggested by the hymnologist, to "Stretch every nerve, The System of 1823 is particularized because it was the first of its kind issued by an authoritative body of medical men in the United States, and because it is more elaborate, as an exposition of morals, than any succeeding effort in that direction. The distance between 1823 and 1883, measured by the " System" of ethics, is so great as to appear almost startling. it affords illustration of the progress of sentiment, public and private, which in the space of sixty years can disenthrall a great profession from the semblance of offences which are no longer to be mentioned as probable among its representatives. The System of 1823 deserves to be regarded with profound respect and veneration by the members of the profession who refer to it simply in connection with the phases of medical history it served to portray, if for no other purpose. This "System" accomplished its purpose in the day and generation in which it was promulgated, when the meaning of the word " quackery" denoted general, but not specific or legal, information. The writings of that period make constant reference to this expression, and the older volumes of the Transactions of the Medical Society of the State of New York, deal largely with the sub |