Shaw v. State

11 Ohio App. 486, 30 Ohio C.A. 449, 1919 Ohio App. LEXIS 239
CourtOhio Court of Appeals
DecidedApril 30, 1919
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 11 Ohio App. 486 (Shaw v. State) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Ohio Court of Appeals primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Shaw v. State, 11 Ohio App. 486, 30 Ohio C.A. 449, 1919 Ohio App. LEXIS 239 (Ohio Ct. App. 1919).

Opinion

Dunlap, P. J.

The plaintiff in error, Fred Shaw, was tried and convicted in the probate court of Summit county, on an affidavit and information charging him with unlawfully practicing medicine and surgery in the state of Ohio without having first obtained a certificate from the state medical board so to do. The judgment of the probate court was affirmed by the common pleas court on error proceedings instituted in that court, and the case brought here on error to review the judgment of the common pleas and probate courts.

[487]*487The errors complained of in the brief and upon argument relate to the sufficiency of the information, the claim being that it is defective in form and substance, that the trial court erred in overruling a motion to quash it, and also in overruling a demurrer to the same. The further claim is made that there was error in the refusal of the court to give certain requested charges before argument to the jury.

Some claim is made in argument that the affidavit did not charge the crime with sufficient definiteness to apprise the accused of the nature of the offense. With regard to this claim we are of the opinion that in this respect the affidavit is sufficient, and this claim must be disallowed.

The main contention is that the sections of the General Code relating to the control of the practice of medicine and' surgery and the limited branches thereof, Sections 1274-1 et seq:, General Code, under which this conviction was had, are unconstitutional, or at least that no proper conviction can be had Under them in the present case. We shall not burden this opinion with a quotation of those statutes.

The bill of exceptions' taken upon the trial, and filed in this case, does* not contain the evidence adduced upon the trial. It is simply a statement to the effect that the state to maintain its action gave in evidence certain testimony tending to prove the matters therein set forth, that the defendant gave in evidence certain testimony tending to prove the issues raised by his plea of not guilty, and that at the conclusion of the evidence and before argument the defendant requested the- court to give [488]*488certain instructions in writing to the jury, not as a series, but as separate propositions of law. It then sets forth the instructions so requested. We therefore have no means of knowing whether the proof tended to show that plaintiff in error was engaged in the practice of one or more of the limited branches of medicine, whether it tended to show that he was engaged in the general practice, or as an osteopath. So far as the bill of exceptions discloses, we only know that evidence was offered tending to prove the matters set forth in the information. Consequently we are forced to disregard the statement of the brief for plaintiff in error to the effect that he is an electropath, and therefore practicing one of the limited branches above referred to.

The argument of counsel for plaintiff in error upon the question of unconstitutionality seems to be directed from the point of view of one practicing one of these limited branches, and the claim is made that the requirements by way of examination for their practice are an unreasonable exercise of the police power of the state. •

There seems to exist in the minds of counsel for both parties a slight misapprehension of the meaning and construction of the medical laws of Ohio. Thus, one of the principal arguments of plaintiff in error, and, indeed, the principal argument, is to the effect that because Section 1288, General Code, provides among other things that the laws relating to the practice of medicine and surgery shall not relate to an osteopath who passes an examination in anatomy, physiology, obstetrics and diagnosis, the law relating to the practice of limited branches [489]*489is unconstitutional, because of the fact that an examination on many other subjects is required for those desiring to practice what are known as the limited branches, and, osteopathy being also a limited branch, an improper and unreasonable discrimination exists, rendering the law unconstitutional.

This argument is not sound and is not based upon a true premise. Osteopathy is- not regarded by the statute as one of the limited branches of medicine and surgery, but is regarded as purely and simply osteopathy, whatever that may be; nor is it true that the examination provided for applicants for a license to practice osteopathy, in Section 1288, General Code, above referred to, is the only examination required for that' purpose. The examination required upon the subjects of anatomy, physiology, obstetrics and diagnosis, provided for in said section, is an examination given by. the state medical board, but that examination is not given until after compliance with the provisions of the next section, Section 1289, which provides for a number of very high requirements upon the part of one desiring to practice osteopathy, including evidence of proper preliminary education and a certificate from an osteopathic examining committee to the effect that the applicant has passed a satisfactory examination in pathology, physiological chemistry, gynecology, minor surgery, osteopathic diagnosis, and the principles and practice of osteopathy. Provision is then made in the next section fpr the appointment of a state osteopathic examining committee, its organization, etc.

[490]*490It is quite evident, therefore, that at the time of the passage of the original law, which was in 1902, what was known as the practice of osteopathy had gained considerable foothold in the state. Efforts had been made to prevent its practice, and some of its practitioners had been arrested as unlawfully practicing medicine and surgery under the then existing medical laws. The first of these cases to reach the supreme court was the case of State of Ohio v. Liffring, 61 Ohio St., 39. It was then held that the practice of osteopathy did not come within the terms of the existing laws. The law was then amended by the legislature, but the amendment thus made was held void by the supreme court in the case of State of Ohio v. Gravett, 65 Ohio St, 289, for the reason that four years of study were required for the practice of osteopathy, while a less time was required for study of those contemplating the regular practice of medicine and surgery. This was deemed by the supreme court as a discrimination and as sufficient reason for holding the amendment unconstitutional.

To meet this situation, the law of 1902 above referred to was enacted. An examination of the legislative records of that session of the legislature will reveal the fact that at that session of the legislature the osteopaths of Ohio caused to be introduced into the house of representatives a.bill entirely divorcing the respective practices of osteopathy and medicine, and providing for the recognition of osteopathic methods of healing and the establishment of a state board of osteopathic examiners entirely separate and distinct from the state medical board. The osteopaths were desirous [491]*491of obtaining legal recognition to prevent' unauthorized and uneducated quacks from assuming to practice osteopathy and also to prevent interference by the medical authorities of the state with what they considered the legitimate practice of their profession.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
11 Ohio App. 486, 30 Ohio C.A. 449, 1919 Ohio App. LEXIS 239, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/shaw-v-state-ohioctapp-1919.