Golden Age of Medicine

Note: at the same time as FSA photographers visually documented the American experience, writers and journalists commissioned by the Federal Writers Project set out to document the American experience by interviewing men and women from all walks of life. Historians now use these materials in their efforts to understand our past. For more information about the Federal Writers Project narratives, see the Library of Congress’s American Memory page.

The following is an excerpt from a longer document. The title was assigned later to the document.

"The Interne Remarks" (excerpt)
From the Federal Writers Project Collection, Library of Congress

JUN 19 1939

THE INTERNE REMARKS

…Many things a doctor does, and has to do, is psychological ... especially with "crocks", children, and nervous patients. Some patients, for example, come into the hospital and there is no actual treatment to be given for a number of days, during which time the diagnosis is made ... but if they're not given some sort of medicine, and this applies chiefly to private cases, they feel they're being gypped. So the doctor gives them a placebo (pronounced Plaseebo), a sugar coated pill, or flavored water, to make them feel good. Color in medicine, you know, has one value only, and that is when the doctor prescribes more than one medicine, so as to distinguish the kind. As far as curative value is concerned, there is none, since all colors are syrup, and are used mainly to make the medicine palatable for kids.

…There are many evils arising out of the system of private practise which would quickly be eliminated if medicine was socialized. In itself, you know, medicine is the most social profession there is. I'll tell you a little more about that later on. But you know, one big thing the average layman can't get in his head is the fact that no matter what is wrong or right with him, when he calls the private doctor , that doctor's job is not so much to help the patient as it is to make the patient feel that the doctor is earning his two dollars. You call a doctor , for example, and tell him you have a cold. In all probability you pay him his fee, when he calls, for telling you what you just told him. You can treat a common cold just as well as he can, and if that's what the case is, under socialized medicine, that is if he's a real doctor , he would say you have a cold and goodbye. But under private medicine that's not enough. He has to earn his two dollars. Therefore he gives six prescriptions to prove that his knowledge is important, and he may make a case of pneumonia out of a common cold. Remember, the doctor is selling knowledge that is intangible, whereas a prescription is something ordered over the counter ... And on the other hand, consider the cases that occur where the symptom may seem to indicate only a cold, but the person hasn't got the two dollars to go to a doctor or can't afford to throw away money on something trivial, while actually an expert opinion will prevent the ravages of serious illness by making a correct diagnosis ...