People v. DeYoung

33 N.E.2d 610, 309 Ill. App. 525, 1941 Ill. App. LEXIS 1017
CourtAppellate Court of Illinois
DecidedApril 15, 1941
DocketGen. No. 40,560
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 33 N.E.2d 610 (People v. DeYoung) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Appellate Court of Illinois primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
People v. DeYoung, 33 N.E.2d 610, 309 Ill. App. 525, 1941 Ill. App. LEXIS 1017 (Ill. Ct. App. 1941).

Opinion

Mr. Justice John J. Sullivan

delivered the opinion of the court.

The jury returned a verdict in this case finding the defendant, Joseph DeYoung, guilty of violation of section 24 of the Medical Practice Act (ch. 91, par. 16i, Ill. Rev. Stat. 1937 [Jones Ill. Stats. 79.25]), and the court entered judgment thereon and assessed a fine against him of $125 and $20 costs. This writ of error is brought to review that judgment. In transferring the cause to this court the Supreme Court in People v. DeYoung, 369 Ill. 341, held that no new constitutional question was presented.

The information upon which defendant was tried was verified by Charlotte Hermes, an investigator for the Department of Begistration and Education of the State of Illinois.

The first count thereof charged that defendant did unlawfully diagnosticate an ailment or supposed ailment of Charlotte Hermes also known as Mrs. Balph Hermann, as asthma.

The second count charged that he unlawfully treated “the supposed asthma of Charlotte Hermes . . . by applying pressure and manipulating the back, side, vertebra and neck of the said Charlotte Hermes . . . with his fingers and hands. ’ ’

The third count charged that the defendant did unlawfully “suggest and recommend the manipulation of the back, side, vertebra and neck of the said Charlotte Hermes . . . with his fingers and hands with the intention of receiving a fee of a portion of $5 in cash therefor.”

The fourth count charged that Joseph DeYoung, on November 17, 1936, at the village of Thornton, Cook county, Illinois, not then and there possessing an existing license to practice the treatment of human ailments in any manner, did ‘ ‘ unlawfully attach the title Doctor, Physician, Surgeon, M. D., or some other word or abbreviation to his name indicative that he was engaged in the treatment of human ailments as a business, to-wit: . . . did sign his name upon a receipt for $5 in the following manner, to-wit: Joseph DeYoung, D. N., and did distribute pamphlets to members of the public and more particularly to Mrs. Ralph Herman, upon which he had caused or permitted his name to be printed, written or stamped in the following manner: ‘Dr. Joseph DeYoung, Naprapathic Physician,’ and ‘Dr. DeYoung,’ and did cause or permit his name to be displayed on the house at 117 Schwab Road, Thornton, Illinois, in the following manner: ‘Dr. Jos. DeYoung, Naprapath.’ ”

The fifth count charged that the defendant unlawfully “did then and there . . . maintain an office in the house at 117 Schwab Road, equipped with a table, chart, equipment and paraphernalia for the treatment of human ailments.”

“All in violation of section 24 of an Act to revise the law in relation to the practice of the treatment of human ailments for the better protection of the public health and to prescribe penalties for the violation thereof, and contrary to the statutes in such case made and provided against the peace and dignity of the People of the State of Illinois.”

The second count of the information was quashed on defendant’s motion and separate verdicts were returned by the jury finding him not guilty as to the first, third and fifth counts. As heretofore stated it was on the fourth count that the jury returned the verdict of guilty, upon which the judgment before us for review was entered.

Charlotte Hermes, an investigator for the Department of Registration and Education of the State of Illinois, went to the home of the defendant on November 17, 1936. She saw a sign on his front porch, which read: “Dr. Jos. DeYoung, Naprapath.” After entering his home she told him she had a had cold and that she did not know whether it was caused by asthma or hay fever. She asked for and received a naprapathic treatment. She knew what such a treatment was since she had had one before. This is a manipulative treatment or “glorified” massage. She paid $5 to defendant and he gave her a receipt which read, “Received of Mrs. Ralph Hermann [the name she used] five dollars for half course of naprapathic treatments. Joseph DeYoung, D.N.” When she left DeYoung’s home she took with her three pieces of literature dealing with the value of naprapathic treatments. She testified that DeYoung gave her this literature, advising her to read same so that she might have a clearer understanding of the profession or science of naprapathy. Both DeYoung’ and his wife testified that the literature was not given to Mrs. Hermes but that she purloined it from their home.

The literature referred to consisted of three pamphlets. The first of these, entitled “The Business of Living,” advocates the use of naprapathic treatments for the cure of' almost every conceivable human ailment or disease, enumerating them. This statement is contained therein: “Naprapathy is a scientific method of treating diseases, both chronic and acute, without drugs or surgery. Diseases and ailments which are regarded incurable are cured by this wonderful treatment.” The name of “W. L. Morrison appears in type on the bottom of one of the pages as the author. At the end of the pamphlet are these printed lines: “I have cured others — why hot you? Telephone or write for appointment. Consultation without charge.” Immediately after the foregoing lines there is written in ink: “Dr. DeYoung, Thornton, Illinois, Tel. 2507.”

The second pamphlet is entitled, “Bulletin of the American Naprapathic Association. Yol. XII, Burlington, Iowa, September, 1936. Number 11.” This bulletin contains articles by various persons as to the efficacy of naprapathic treatments for “Children’s Respiratory Disorders,” “Faulty Elimination,” “Diseases of the Female,” “Repair Changes in Neurasthenia,” and “Prostatitis.” At the top of the front page of the bulletin was stamped: “Dr. Joseph DeYoung, Thorton, Ill.”

The third pamphlet is entitled “A Personal Message.” At the bottom of the first page thereof in small type is the statement, “Copyrighted 1929 by Chas. R. Cushman.” At the end of this printed circular appears the following in heavy black type: “Dr. Joseph DeYoung Naprapathic Physician, Pipestone, Minnesota.” A black ink line is run through “Pipestone, Minnesota,” and “Thornton, Ill.” is written thereunder in ink. This pamphlet contains the following, among other questions and answers:

“What diseases are treated by Naprapathy?
“Connective tissue diseases, to answer the question briefly. But speaking of ‘diseases’ as you know them (we call them sympto’-ras), the following, among others, have been successfully treated: Stomach troubles, headache, hay fever, neuralgia, asthma, bronchitis, liver complaints, kidney and bladder trouble, constipation, enlarged or inflamed tonsils, insomnia, ovarion and womb disorders, lumbago, rheumatism, neuritis, gall-stones, foot troubles, nervousness, influenza, paralysis, troubles of the nose, throat, ears and eyes, including cataract; jaundice, piles, heart troubles, consumption, deafness, prolapsus or falling of the abdominal or pelvic organs, goitre, etc., etc.”

Defendant contends that his motion to quash the fourth count of the information should have been sustained on the ground that it stated no offense in that it failed to charge that he was in fact engaged in treating human ailments. There is no merit in this contention.

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Related

The People v. Deyoung
38 N.E.2d 22 (Illinois Supreme Court, 1941)

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Bluebook (online)
33 N.E.2d 610, 309 Ill. App. 525, 1941 Ill. App. LEXIS 1017, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/people-v-deyoung-illappct-1941.