Article July 25, 1914 Issue

The affirmation by the appellate division of the supreme...

New York (N. Y.) American

The affirmation by the appellate division of the supreme court of the conviction of a Christian Science healer for "practising medicine without a license," calls renewed attention to the faulty condition of the law in this state.

It is futile to question the great number of people—tens of thousands—in this state, who turn by preference to Christian Science rather than to medical methods for treating their ailments; nor can any sane person question their right to gratify their preference if they so choose. Indeed, the court recognizes alike the right of the patient to seek, and of the practitioner to furnish, help by Christian Science methods. Justice Loughlin, in his opinion, said: "The acts of the defendant, if performed in a Christian Science church, or in visiting the members of a church or others, and so administering to them without charge, would not violate the statute."

A famous judge once said: "The law is common sense." Is it common sense to declare the relief of suffering lawful if accomplished in a church or at the sufferer's home, but criminal if done in an office? Is it common sense to make the acceptance of payment for a service evidence that the service was criminal, though itt was held legitimate if no pay was asked? If the acceptance of fees is held to be the crux of the legality of Christian Science practice, the deduction is inevitable that the law was designed, not for the protection of public health, but to prevent fees from being diverted from the pockets of physicians of the medical schools. This conclusion is not weakened by the fact that in this case—as in many others—the informant was a detective hired by a medical society.

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