Triplett v. State

29 Ohio C.C. Dec. 565, 23 Ohio C.C. (n.s.) 172, 1912 Ohio Misc. LEXIS 341
CourtSummit Circuit Court
DecidedOctober 12, 1912
StatusPublished

This text of 29 Ohio C.C. Dec. 565 (Triplett v. State) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Summit Circuit Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Triplett v. State, 29 Ohio C.C. Dec. 565, 23 Ohio C.C. (n.s.) 172, 1912 Ohio Misc. LEXIS 341 (Ohio Super. Ct. 1912).

Opinion

WINCH, J.

These two cases are considered together because they both involve convictions for violating the statutes regulating the practice of medicine and have many propositions in common. [566]*566The constitutionality of the law under which the accused were convicted is attacked in both cases.

Neither of the accused held a certificate obtained from the state medical board in the manner required by law.

Lyman D’. Triplett was tried by the probate court of Summit county upon an affidavit filed with it specifying that he had used the title “Prof.” in connection with his name upon cards with which he advertised that he was a “Class School Graduate of the "Weltmcr School of Suggestive Therapeutics (Magnetic Healing’).” “Every Known Disease Cured Without Medicine or Surgery. Office Treatment. Home Treatment. Absent Treatment. Thousands Cured via this Drugless Route.” That he, for a fee, examined and diagnosed a certain bodily infirmity or disease of one Louise Zimmerly as hardening of the arteries and, for a fee, prescribed, advised, recommended and administered .a certain application, agency, operation and treatment to affiant unknown, for the relief of said bodily infirmity or disease.

Ora L. Brown was tried by the common pleas court of Summit county upon an indictment specifying that he had used the letters “D. C.,” being an abbreviation of and meaning Doctor of Chiropractic, in connection with his name, thereby representing that he was engaged in the practice of medicine and surgery for the cure, relief and treatinent of bodily infirmities and diseases; that he, for a fee, examined and diagnosed a certain bodily infirmity or disease of one Jacob A. Kepler, as partial paralysis and, for a fee, prescribed, advised, recommended and administered a certain application, agency, operation and treatment, the name of which is chiropractic adjustment, and the nature of which is a manipulation or pretended adjustment of the vertebrae of the spinal cord, for the relief of said bodily infirmity or disease.

Sections 1286, 1287 and 12694 G. C. are those upon which the protection of these cases was based.

These sections are derived from the act of May 9, 1908 (99 O. L. 492), revising and consolidating the laws relating to the appointment, powers and duties of the state board of health, the state board of medical registration and examination, etc. [567]*567Said act contains former acts regulating the practice of medicine, and amendments thereof, which have been passed upon by the supreme court of this state, their constitutionality being upheld.

There is nothing new in the sections of the General Code referring to the practice of medicine which has not been settled by the decisions of this state, so that it may be said that their constitutionality is no longer an open question.

The following quotations from the leading Ohio cases on the subject make that point plain:

“The giving of Christian Science treatment for a fee for the cure of disease is practicing medicine within the meaning' of the statutes regulating such practice in this state.
“The statute making it a misdemeanor to give such treatment for a fee is not an interference with the rights of conscience and of worship conserved by Sec. 7 of the bill of rights, and is not on that ground unconstitutional.
“Legislation prohibiting any one from treating a disease for a fee excepting such persons as have prescribed qualifications, is a valid exercise of the police power of the state and is constitutional.
“The act regulating the practice of medicine in this state exacts reasonable qualifications and excludes no one possessing them and it is not void as discriminating against Christian Scientists in that it prescribes that any one possessing certain qualifications may practice osteopathy, and does not make special provision for those who wish to practice Christian Science.” State v. Marble, 72 Ohio St. 21 [73 N. E. 1063; 70 L. R. A. 835; 106 Am. St. 570 ; 2 Ann. Cas. 898].
“That the practice of medicine may be regulated by legislation has been decided in'every court in which the question has arisen. In the leading case, Dent v. W. Va. 129 U. S. 114-122, Mr. Justice Fields says: ‘The power of the state to provide for the general welfare of its people authorizes it to prescribe all such regulations as, in its judgment, will secure, or tend to secure them against the consequences of ignorance and incapacity, as well as of deception and fraud. As one means to this end it has been the practice of different states from time im[568]*568memorial, to exact in many pursuits a certain degree of skill and learning,’ ” etc. State v. Marble, 72 Ohio St., 21, 34, supra.
“That the legislature in its wisdom, might prescribe a uniform examination, we do not doubt, and that it may recognize one school without recognizing all, is also true, if the recognition be in the exercise of proper classification and for the public welfare, and not with a view to create a monopoly in the schools recognized or a discrimination against other schools.” Parks v. State, 159 Ind. 211 [64 N. E. 862; 59 L. R. A. 190] ; State v. Currens, 111 Wis. 431 [87 N. W. 561; 56 L. R. A. 252]; Scholle v. State, 90 Md. 729 [46 Atl. 326; 50 L. R. A. 411].
“The power conferred upon the state board of medical registration and examination is administrative in character, and not judicial within the meaning of Art. 4, Sec. 1, of the constitution of the state.
“It is competent for the state, under its power to provide for the welfare of its people, to establish needful regulations and impose reasonable conditions calculated to insure proper qualifications, both with respect to learning and moral integrity, of persons desiring to engage in the practice of medicine in the state, and require compliances therewith by such persons before they shall be permitted to practice within the state. The regulations adopted by this statute are of that character, and do not infringe upon the privileges and immunities guaranteed by Art. 4 Sec. 2 of the federal constitution to citizens in the several states, nor abridge those secured to citizens of the United States by the fourteenth article of amendment of that constitution.” State v. Mosher, 78 Ia. 321 [43 N. W. 202].
“The right to labor and enjoy the rewards thereof is .a natural right which may not be unreasonably interfered with by legislation where, however, the pursuit concerns in a direct manner, the public health and welfare and is of such a character as to require a special course of study or training or experience to qualify one to pursue such occupation with safety to the pub lie interest, it is within the competency of the general assembly to enact reasonable regulations to protect the public against evils which may result from incapacity and ignorance.” State [569]*569v. Gardner, 58 Ohio St. 599 [51 N. E. 136; 41 L. R. A. 689; 65 Am. St. 785].

In the opinion in the Gardner case, the court say:

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Related

Dent v. West Virginia
129 U.S. 114 (Supreme Court, 1889)
Scholle v. State
50 L.R.A. 411 (Court of Appeals of Maryland, 1900)
Parks v. State
59 L.R.A. 190 (Indiana Supreme Court, 1902)
State v. Mosher
43 N.W. 202 (Supreme Court of Iowa, 1889)
State ex rel. Kellogg v. Currens
87 N.W. 561 (Wisconsin Supreme Court, 1901)

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Bluebook (online)
29 Ohio C.C. Dec. 565, 23 Ohio C.C. (n.s.) 172, 1912 Ohio Misc. LEXIS 341, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/triplett-v-state-ohcirctsummit-1912.