Article June 27, 1908 Issue

The operation craze, like every other, will not last

Medical Times

The operation craze, like every other, will not last. "Fools rush in where angels fear to tread." In every daily paper we see cases of death after operations, commonly called appendicitis: cause, as usual, the convenient one, "heart failure." How many die because they can afford to pay for operation, and very fortunately some escape because they cannot. "Easier to cut a string than unpick a knot," but the man who cuts is better paid and gets all the credit (if successful). Should this be so? Several organs intended by nature to have a certain amount of mobility, are now tethered by operation. I consider that the surgeon who can save the patient from a cutting operation (or loss of a limb or organ) deserves a larger fee than the "cut and come again" gentlemen, so often met with now. These operators have generally more success in removing "the patient from the appendix, than the appendix from the patient."

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The operation craze, like every other, will not last

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