Bragg v. State

• Decision Date: 28 June 1902
• Citation: 32 So. 767,134 Ala. 165
• Parties: BRAGG v. STATE.
• Court: Alabama Supreme Court

32 So. 767

134 Ala. 165

BRAGG v. STATE.

Supreme Court of Alabama

June 28, 1902

Appeal from criminal court, Jefferson county; S.E. Greene, Judge.

E Eugene Bragg was convicted of practicing medicine without a certificate of qualification, and he appeals. Affirmed.

The prosecution was commenced by an affidavit which charged "that E. Eugene Bragg, within twelve months before the making of this affidavit, in said county, as a profession or means of livelihood, did practice medicine, without first having obtained a certificate of qualification from one of the authorized boards of medical examiners of this state against the peace and dignity of the state of Alabama." The cause was tried by the court, without the intervention of a jury, upon an agreed statement of facts, in which it was admitted that the defendant, within 12 months before the commencement of the prosecution, practiced in Jefferson county, Ala., what is commonly known as "Osteopathy," without first having obtained a certificate of qualification from one of the authorized boards of medical examiners of this state; that he practiced the same as a profession and means of livelihood; that osteopathy is a new method of treating diseases, commonly said and understood to have originated with one Dr. A. T. Still, of Kirksville, Mo., about the year 1871; that said Dr Still practiced osteopathy until about the year 1890, when he established a school for instruction therein; that said school has subsequently grown until it is now a chartered college. The agreed statement of facts then set out the further following facts: "The defendant was regularly educated in and graduated from the said college, which has the name of the 'American School of Osteopathy,' and holds a diploma from that institution certifying his capacity and fitness for the practice of osteopathy. The method of treatment by the practitioners of osteopathy is a system of manipulation of the limbs and body of the patient with the hands, by kneading, rubbing, or pressing upon the parts of the body. In the treatment no drug, medicine, or other substance is administered or applied, either internally or externally; nor is the knife used or any form of surgery resorted to in the treatment. The practitioner himself performs the manipulations. The teaching and theory of those skilled in osteopathy are that it is a system of treatment of disease by adjustment of all the parts of the body mechanically. It is taught that any minute or gross derangement of bony parts, contracting and hardening of muscles or other tissues, or other mechanical derangements of the anatomical parts of the body (which must be in perfect order mechanically in order that it may perform its function aright), nerve centers, arteries, veins, and lymphatics (which must function properly in order that health may be maintained),--it is taught that such interferences tend to congestion, obstructed circulation of blood and lymph irritation of nerves, and abnormal state of nerve centers; that the result is disease, which can be cured only by righting what is mechanically wrong. In other words, it is taught that in health the adjustment of the various parts of the body is perfect; in disease this relation is disturbed; e. g., if a muscle becomes contracted it will impinge on neighboring structures; also the force exerted thereby may produce a tension which tends to displace the bones to which it is attached. The circulation is impeded, lowered vitality resulting. Osteopathic treatment, it is taught, overcomes contractured conditions of the muscles, stimulates the nerve centers to greater activity, and increases the circulation to the parts by mechanical means, without the aid of any sort of medication; and it is claimed and taught that, when any slight bony lesion causes interference with the function of the part, osteopathic manipulations will remove the cause and cure the trouble. The essential things taught in the schools of osteopathy are anatomy, physiology, hygiene, histology, pathology, and the treatment of diseases by manipulation. The repudiation of drugs and medicine in the treatment of diseases is a basic principle of osteopathy, and a knowledge of drugs or medicines, their administration for the cure of diseases, the writing and giving of prescriptions, are not essential to the graduation of, and the issuance of diplomas to, students of osteopathy. It was in pursuance of and in accordance with the foregoing principles, rules, and practices that the defendant practiced osteopathy, as hereinbefore admitted, and not otherwise; and in his practice he never at any time used or prescribed any drug or medicine of any kind, but his practice consisted entirely of manipulations of the body and limbs of the patient, performed by himself. He never held himself out to the public to practice in any other way. It is admitted that physicians engaging in the practice of the regular system of medicine have never treated patients by manipulation of the body and limbs. It is further admitted that the defendant, in said county of Jefferson, and within 12 months before the commencement of the prosecution, kept and maintained an office, where he invited persons afflicted with disease to consult him and receive treatment from him during his office hours, and he called upon and treated patients at their home, and that he published and circulated literature inviting sufferers to consult him, and setting forth the superiority and efficacy of his treatment of disease, using his system of treatment herein described; that he is and was called by the title of 'doctor,' and that he received and charged a fee for his services and treatment; and that he has never applied to be examined or to have a certificate of qualification from any of the authorized boards of medical examiners of this state. It is further admitted that there are, and have been for many years since 1873, county medical societies organized under and in affiliation with the State Medical Association of the State of Alabama in the county of Jefferson and a large number of other counties of Alabama." There was also introduced in evidence the constitution of the medical association of the state, and the ordinances and laws for the government of said association. On the hearing of all the evidence, the court rendered judgment finding the defendant guilty as charged in the affidavit, and assessing a fine of $25 and costs against him. To the rendition of this judgment the defendant duly excepted, and from this judgment he brings the present appeal.

B. M. Allen and Jas. B. Head, for appellant.

Chas. G. Brown, Atty. Gen., and Cabaniss & Weakley, for the State.

TYSON J.

It is admitted that defendant was engaged in the practice of osteopathy as a profession and means of livelihood, without having obtained a certificate of qualification from one of the authorized boards of medical examiners. The most important question presented is whether the practice of osteopathy is "the practice of medicine in any of its branches or departments," within the meaning of section 3261 of the Civil Code and section 5333 of the Criminal Code. The contention of defendant is that it is not. He predicates his insistence mainly (indeed, we may say wholly) upon the fact that in the practice of osteopathy no drugs or other medicinal substances are administered or applied, internally or externally; nor is the knife used or any form of surgery resorted to in the treatment of diseases. In fact, the practitioners of that school of the healing art repudiate as remedial agents all drugs, medicinal substances, and the knife, and other surgical instruments and appliances, in the treatment or alleviation of diseases, and therefore need have no knowledge of their use. They, of consequence, know nothing of the medicinal properties of drugs and other medicinal substances, or of the compounding and administering of drugs in the cure of diseases. Their method of treatment is entirely external, consisting of "a system of a manipulation of the limbs and body of the patient with the hands, by kneading, rubbing, or pressing upon the parts of the body." However, in order to practice the profession of osteopathy skillfully and scientifically, it is admitted that the practitioner must know anatomy, physiology, hygiene, histology, and pathology. Confessedly, the requirement of a knowledge on the part of the practitioners of all of these branches of the science of healing the sick or diseased is to enable him to skillfully determine the disease with which his patient is afflicted, and to aid him in making a proper application of his system of manipulation. For it is entirely clear from the evidence that the practitioner does not make the same application of his remedy to all diseases, but that he applies such system of manipulation as is most remedial in alleviating or curing the particular disease he is called upon to treat. In other words, after a diagnosis of the disease of the patient he applies the remedy most suitable to its cure; confining it, however, to his system of manipulation as a remedial agent. So, too, a practitioner of medicine is required to know anatomy, physiology, hygiene, histology, and pathology, in order to enable him to skillfully and scientifically determine from what disease his patient is suffering; and, after so determining, he must also know how and what remedial agents should be prescribed for the alleviation or cure of the disease. So, after all, the only difference between the two is in the matter of therapeutics,--that branch of medicinal science which considers the application of remedies as a means of cure. The former, as we have shown, applies his external remedies exclusively, while the latter prescribes internal or external, or...