Editorial. 
Am.  Jour.  Pharm. 
Jan.,  1880. 
apothecary  is  advocated.  The  evils  complained  of,  and  a  number  of  others,  have 
been  repeatedly  discussed  in  this  journal,  and  we  are  pleased  to  note  that  our  cotem- 
porary  evidently  expects  increased  qualification  on  the  part  of  the  apothecary  to 
result  in  greater  advantages  to  the  physician,  than  the  reuniting  of  dispensing  with 
prescribing  by  the  physician,  which  is  occasionally  advocated  in  medical  joiirnals. 
At  present  we  wish  to  call  attention  only  to  one  of  the  points  mentioned,  on  which 
we  hold  radically  different  views.  We  clip  from  the  article  in  question  the  fol- 
lowing : 
"  It  is  time  that  the  physicians  of  New  Orleans  were  taking  action  to  protect 
themselves  from  the  impositions  of  druggists  and  apothecaries.  The  knights  of  the 
mortar  and  pestle,  instead  of  attending  to  their  legitimate  duties,  compounding  the 
prescriptions  of  physicians  and  in  good  faith  repeating  these  only  when  especially 
ordered,  derive  quite  a  revenue  from  the  sale  of  repetitions  ;  thus  injustice  is  done 
the  doctors,  and  the  way  is  paved  for  weak-minded  men  and  women  to  become  the 
victims  of  opium,  chloral  or  alcoholic  drunkenness.  Is  it  dealing  fair  with  the  phy- 
sician for  the  druggist  to  fill  on  demand  an  old  prescription  ordered  for  some  partic- 
ular case,  but  now  lauded  around  and  handed  about  by  neighbors  who  administer 
the  remedy  in  cases  of  sickness  when  the  diagnosis  is  the  result  of  no  greater  skill 
than  that  possessed  by  an  old  woman  ? " 
We  are  convinced  that  the  effort  of  our  cotemporary  to  prevent  the  renewal  of 
prescriptions  without  the  written  order  of  the  prescriber,  will  share  the  fate  of  others 
which  have  been  made  before.  A  custom  which  is  followed,  not  only  in  the  United 
States,  but  in  all  civilized  countries,  cannot  be  abrogated  by  the  action  of  the  phar- 
macists and  physicians,  even  if  they  could  be  united  in  the  efibrt,  unless  supported 
by  legislative  enactments,  and  we  question  the  success  of  such  a  movement,  if  it 
were  really  undertaken.  The  difficulty  lies  in  the  fact  that  the  prescription  is 
regarded  as  the  projjerty  of  the  patient,  who  has  paid  for  the  advice;  and  although 
as  a  rule,  it  is  retained  by  the  apothecary  as  his  guarantee  in  case  of  error  by  the 
prescriber,  a  copy  of  it  is  usually  furnished  if  demanded.  In  Europe  the  original 
prescriptions  are  returned  with  the  medicines. 
The  same  subject  was  recently  discussed  by  Mr.  A.  Kinninmont  before  the  Glas- 
gow Chemists'  and  Druggists'  Association,  who  considered  the  prescription  to  be 
by  right  the  patient's,  and  as  to  repeats,  he  thought  that  if  any  patient  wished  to 
have  his  prescription  renewed  again  and  again,  the  pharmacist  had  no  right  to  refuse 
it,  although  it  might  prevent  some  fees  from  going  to  the  physician.  (See  "  Pharm. 
Jour,  and  Trans,,"  1879,  Nov  15th,  p.  394.)  This  address  was  also  referred  to  by 
the  "  Medical  Press  and  Circular."  Admitting  that  occasionally  the  repetition  of 
prescriptions  works  disadvantageously,  and  that  in  some  cases  a  high-class  pharma- 
cist might  very  properly  refuse  to  continue  an  endless  repetition  of  doses,  the  editor 
declines  to  encourage  for  a  moment  the  theory  that  the  right  to  that  repetition  is 
possessed  by  any  one  but  the  patient."  The  writer  concludes  by  saying :  "We 
fail  to  understand  upon  what  principle  a  patient  who  has  paid  his  fee  for  advice  and 
a  recipe  for  medicine  should  be  obliged  to  seek  leave  from  either  doctor  or  dis- 
penser to  make  unlimited  use  of  the  recipe  which  he  has  thus  purchased,  and  how- 
