LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
[Correspondents are requested to keep their letters. as brief, as is reasonably possible. The most suitable length is that of one of our " News of the :Week" paragraphs. Signed letters.are given a preference over those bearing a pseudonym.-LEd. THE SPECTATOR.]
OSTEOPATHY
[To the Editor of Tux SPECTATOR.] summarised as follows 1. Practitioners must be trained in schools established in this country and certified by impartial official inspection to provide adequate and proper training for the purpose designed.
2. The curriculum to be followed by these schools must in its. duration, quality and scope approximate to the curriculum required for qualification by registered medical practitioners.
The recent Bill for the Registration of Osteopaths introdUced in the House of Lords by Lord Elibank and subjected to a very full—and expensive—enquiry by a Select Committee of that House, sought to set aside these conditions, and therefore and quite justly in my submission was thrown out. '
The Committee " reached the conclusion " that " the claim of osteopaths to be able to treat all diseases had not been established," " ordered " "that the Bill be reported to the HouSe without amendment " and " recommended " " that it be not further proceeded with." The supporters of the Bill had with-' drawn their support before the conclusion of the evidence, giving as their reasons (i) That they desired what they con- sidered to be the scientific basis of osteopathy to be further explored, (ii) That they could not properly ask for a measure which required for its full operation the granting of powers to the British School of Osteopathy, the present constitution of which the principal supporters did not approve. (Report of Select Committee, p. 2.) . • The Conunittee found " The claim is made that osteopathy is a method of healing which is suitable for the treatmentof diseases of any description," the method being based upon 4., theory of general causation of disease which is at variance with theories universally accepted by international medicine. It is surely the duty of those who assert that claim to prove it. The attempt was in fact made before the ,Select Committee., The principal spokesman for the osteopathic theory admitted that the literature furnishing evidence of its validity was scanty but constituted in his view ,," proof," which reposed essentially upon seven " bulletins " or short articles from the A. T. Still Laboratory in Chicago ; these represented in effect, the " research work " of a single observer, Louisa' Burns, a doctor of osteopathy, who is otherwise unknown to fame.
The osteopathic theory upon which osteopathic practice is based " that all diseases are mere effects, the cause being a partial or complete failure of the nerves to properly conduct
the fluids of life "_ was given to the world by Dr. A. T. Still rather more than sixty years ago. It was born .aboutthe
same time as the Darwinian theory. Still's theory, if found to be true, would obviously be of the very. first importance in medicine, comparable to the importance of Darwin's theory in biology. But the scientific literature on the Darwinian theory would by itself fill a, library as large as that of the British Museum ; the scientific literature on the osteopathic theory, by the admission of its principal spokesman, is practically limited to the seven " bulletins " cited, " plus two or three dozen articles contributed to the Journal of the American Osteopathic Association."
Mr. Canning, who was described by the Dean of the British School of Osteopathy as the " specialist for diseases of the ear, nose and throat " on the staff of that school (his claim to be a " specialist " in these diseases is not supported by any other evidence than the Dean's assertion), gives an entirely, erroneous account of the findings of the Select Committee and of their baiis. The Report of the Select Corninittee upon the School is in the following words : (III, Page 8' Select Committee Report).
" The only existing establishment in this country for the education. and examination of osteopaths was exposed in the course of evidence
Sin,--Mr. Neville Chamberlain, the then Minister of Health, in his memorable speech in the House of Commons Upon my motion dealing with irregular medical practice (Hansard, February 9th, 1926, page 999), mentioned certain essential conditions that practitioners of any system of ,healing must fulfil if they seek statutory registration upon equality with registered medical practitioners. These conditions may be . .
before us,' as being' of neglihible importance, inefficient for its purpose and above all in, thoroughly dishonest hands." - That verdict was established by a very searching examination of the Dean of the School and the charges of inefficiency and dishonesty rest upon a' number of faets 'elicited in that examination. The School claimed to give a proper training in the many branches of medicine and surgery, scheduled in.. the Bill as forming part of osteopathic practice. 'This ,was. a dishonest claim ,; the staff of teachers named by the Dean as giving the training, and the equipment provided for teach-, ing, were farcically inadequate. The Dean himself, with no„ medical qualification of any authority, undertook, on his own ad-.. mission, the teaching of " X-ray and electro diagnosis " (without any apparatus), " laboratory and physical diagnosis" (labor...! atory facilities confined to simple tests of urine and blood),, " diseases of the eye," " diseases of the skin," " medical, jurisprudence," as well as the " theory and practice, of osteo- pathy." The subjects of "minor surgery, bandaging, adjust- ments, minor surgical technique, clinical technique an, d. practice, osteopathic orthopaedics, obstetrics and gynaec.- ology," were the responsibility of another single teacher. whose expertise in these subjects is unrecognized outside the British School of Osteopathy. Students . paid 75 guineas , a year for their " tuition " and the standard of the examin, ations was such that no candidate sitting ,for the examination has ever failed to obtain the diploma of D.O. during the 18 years of the school's existence.
The most valuable part of the education of the registered medical practitioner is obtained by the, observation of disease. in large hospitals and by following the teaching and-practice , of experienced physicians., surgeons and specialists. None; of these opportunities arc available tit the British School of. Osteopathy. It is surely idle for Mr. Canning, or anyone else, to pretend that the British School of Osteopathy as at present constituted (and very properly condemned by the. Select Committee) fulfils the essential conditions which I have cited from Mr. Chamberlain's speech.--I am, &c.,
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