101-NLR-NLR-V-23-THE-KING-v.-SANTHERESEKERA.pdf
1983*
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THy, KING v. 8ANTBGEBISEKEBA.83—P. O. Kuntnegala, 18,625.
Medical practitioner—Ordinance No* 2 of 1906—Ayurvedic physician—'Advertisement of medicine^-Uee of the term “ doctor** in adver-tisement—Use of stethescope.
Accused, an Ayurvedjg phyrician,exa£^ned patients with astethoscope and advertised an Ayumedicine in a newspaperand signed the advertisementSantheresekera,” and gave
his address as the “ Ayurvedic Medical Ball* Kurunegala.”
Held, that accused had not committed any offence under section19 of Ordinance No. 2 of 1905 either by using the stethoscope inJN&34£&etice or by advertising himself as a ** doctor.”
^J^HE facte appear from the judgment.
2?. J. C. Pereira, K.C. (with him Croos-Dabr&ra), for appellant.
March 8, 1922. De Sampayo J.—
In this case one M. A. Santheresekera has beep, charged with*having committed a breach of two provisions of the Medical Practi-tioners Ordinance, No. 2 of 1905. On the first count he is chargedwith having treated and examined patients with the stethescope inbreach of sectionl9, sub-section (5), of the Ordinance. That sectionprovides that any person, not having been registered under theOrdinance, subject to the, exception in the next following sectioncontained, who practises for gain, or professes to practice or publisheshis name as practising medicine or surgery, shall be guilty of anoffence. The exception mentioned in the next following section isthat nothing in this Ordinance shall be taken to limit the right ofany person to practise medicine or surgery .according to nativemethods, provided that he does not take or use any name or title' calculated to induce the public to believe that he is~ qualified to
The second charge against the accused is that in breach of sub-section(a) of the same section he advertised his business and used the title“Dr.” Now, as regards the use of the stethescope, the evidence isthat a man named Simon Silva, who was suffering from malaria, wentto the medical hall run by the accused in the town of Kurunegala.He was examined by the accused with a stethescope, and was given amixture in a bottle which is proved on analysis to contain magnesiumsulphate, quinine, and gentian. It depends on circumstanceswhether the use of the stethescope by itself proves that the man didpractise medicine according to modem scientific methods. No doubtthe stethescope is an invention of European scientists, but the use
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of it by other persons who practise any native system does notnecessarily mean that they profess to practise medicine according tomodem scientific methods. As regards the mixture that was given,the ingredients, though described in the case in English terms, pro-bably correspond with drags M substances known to the nativesystem. I do not think really there was sufficient ground for thecharge under section 19 (6). As regards the other charge, it is solelybased on an advertisement which the accused had published in one ofthe Colombo newspapers. It is an advertisement of a medicine styled“ Ayurvedic Datusthamba Vateekawa,” and it is signed by “ Dr.M. A. Santheresekera,” address being given as the “ AyurvedicMedical Hall, Kurunegala.” The description which is objected toin this prosecution is the use of the word “ Dr.” by the accused. Ihave recently had to deal with a case where the same word had beenused, and 1 there came to the conclusion that the word, generallyspeaking, denoted that a person who styles himself a “Dr.,” oriscalleda “Dr.,” is a qualified man possessing a diploma or certificate from aUniversity or College which teaches the modem scientific methods.But there is something more to be considered in the present case.The very name of the medicine which was advertised is an Ayurvedicmedicine, and underneath the name of the accused, as I havealready stated, is given his address, which is also descriptive of hisbusiness as an Ayurvedic physician. It is not proved in the easethat the accused called himself a “ Dr.” in any other connection thanthe advertisement in question. In my opinion the advertisementshould be read as a whole, and so read I do not think it wouldconvey, to an ordinary person of intelligence, that the advertisertook a title which would convey to him the idea that the latterprofessed to practise medicine according to modem scientificmethods. The word “ Ayurvedic ” is well understood in Ceylon;it necessarily means an Eastern system. In the context in whichthe word “ Dr.” appears in this advertisement, it could not certainlybe taken to mean anything more than that the advertiser wished todescribe himself as a medical practitioner, which apparently he was,but a practitioner according to the Ayurvedic system. I do notthink it is worth the while of the police to bring this prosecutionagainst the accused, unless there was something more than is dis-closed in this case regards the accused’s conduct towards thepublic. All that I can find in these proceedings is that the medicinethat he advertised was for a number of ailments and infirmitieswhich to make public is undesirable, but for that publication thenewspaper which contained the advertisement is as much to blameas the advertiser himself. I must, however, administer a seriouswarning to the accused that if he commits a breach' of the provisionsof this Ordinance he would be effectively dealt with.
The present conviction is set aside.
1922.
Du SahfavoJ.
The King p.Santhere-eekera
29
Set aside.