EDITORIAL. 
187 
sanctions  the  repetition  of  prescriptions  by  the  verbal  request  of  the 
patient  or  by  the  simple  presentation  of  the  label,  and  this  custom  is 
based,  in  nine  cases  out  of  ten,  on  the  verbal  direction  of  the  physician  to  the 
attendant,  and  of  which  the  apothecary  can  have  no  personal  knowledge. 
With  this  custom  so  deeply  impressed  on  the  habits  of  the  physicians 
themselves,  and  on  the  heads  of  families,  how  is  it  possible  to  adopt  any 
such  general  and  sweeping  rule  as  the  East  River  Medical  Association's 
Resolution,  viz  :  "  That  we  respectfully  request  that  no  druggist  will  renew 
the  prescriptions  of  any  physician  connected  with  this  Society,  without 
due  authority  for  each  and  every  such  renewal."  Physicians  may  be 
called  out  of  town  unexpectedly,  may  omit  a  visit  after  directing  the 
medicine  then  prescribed  to  be  continued,  or  may  forget  to  give  the  written 
order  for  renewal,  and  in  various  other  ways  come  in  conflict  with  such  a 
rule.  How  then  is  the  apothecary  to  act  ?  Must  he  take  the  respon- 
sibility to  supply  the  medicine,  or,  entrenched  behind  the  letter  of  the 
order,  let  the  patient  suffer  until  he  has  permission  to  get  the  means  of 
relief  under  the  red  tape  of  authority? 
That  ill  consequences  have  flowed  from  the  injudicious  continuance,  by 
repetition,  of  prescriptions,  none  can  doubt  who  for  a  series  of  years  have 
been  engaged  in  an  active  business  ;  but  the  mischief  thus  occurring  would, 
in  our  opinion,  be  but  a  small  fraction  of  that  which  would  arise  from 
the  strict  carrying  out  by  apothecaries  of  the  rule  as  promulgated  by  the 
East  River  Medical  Association. 
As  regards  the  other  charges  perhaps  the  most  serious  one  is  that  of 
giving  advice,  or,  as  it  is  termed,  prescribing  over  the  counter.  That  this 
is  done  to  some  extent  in  many  neighborhoods  can  hardly  be  doubted. 
The  wonder  is  not  that  it  is  done,  but  how  in  some  places  it  can  be 
avoided.  Much  of  the  prescribing  is  for  the  very  poor,  to  whom  in  many 
cases  it  is  a  real  charity.  A  large  portion  of  it  is  done  by  medical  men 
who  are  the  proprietors  of  stores,  and  the  example  of  such  does  not  tend  to 
prevent  the  apothecary  proper  from  doing  likewise.  Both  practically  and 
theoretically  we  have  honestly  advocated  the  separation  of  the  Medical 
function  from  Pharmacy,  and  shall  continue  to  do  so  in  justice  to  the 
physician  (and  the  patient)  in  all  cases  appropriate  for  his  aid,  but  we 
believe  in  all  stores  and  in  every  neighborhood  there  is  a  certain  amount  of 
information  that  will  always  be  expected  at  the  hands  of  the  apothecary, 
and  to  refuse  which  would  destroy  much  of  his  real  usefulness  to  society. 
The  charges  of  interfering  with  physicians,  criticizing  them  before 
patients,  substituting  one  medicine  for  another,  etc.,  are  so  gross  and  in- 
defensible that  we  shall  only  state  them  to  denounce  them  as  not  to  be 
justified  on  any  grounds,  and  so  far  as  we  know  they  must  be  confined  to 
a  limited  class.  We  believe  the  true  interest  of  physicians  and  apothe- 
caries should  lead  them  to  the  utmost  friendliness  and  candor  towards 
each  other  in  ethics.  The  reputation  of  the  physician  should  be  as  dear 
to  the  apothecary  as  his  own,  and  he  should  always  be  ready  to  uphold  it 
