Statements, &c., respecting the cases of Christina Cameron and David Hutcheon / by the House Committee of the Royal Infirmary, Dr. Johnston, and Mr. Morison.

  • Royal Infirmary (Montrose, Scotland). House Committee.
Date:
[1852]
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Statements, &c., respecting the cases of Christina Cameron and David Hutcheon / by the House Committee of the Royal Infirmary, Dr. Johnston, and Mr. Morison. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    Observations on Statement made by the Chairman of the Committee of the Royal Infirmary, by Mr. MORISON. 1st,—u The patient was entered in the register as suffering from dropsy.” It is well known to medical men that dropsy is very frequently only symptomatic of some other disease, more especially of the heart, liver, or kidneys. The In • firmary Register being kept for the inspection of the House-Committee, an essen¬ tially non-medical body, it did not strike me at the time, nor does it now appear to me either to be necessary or customary to enter the name of the disease in strictly scientific terms. The word “ dropsy ” expressing one of the most marked and prominent, though by no means the only symptom, of the diseased liver, was therefore selected by me as sufficiently accurate and appropriate. 2d,— “ Mr Morison did not attend the delivery himself.” In the Royal In¬ firmary no patients in a state of pregnancy are admissible, and if discovered to be so, are at once dismissed as unfit, provided their bodily condition is such as to permit the step to be taken without danger to the patient. In the present in¬ stance, the patient, on the Monday previously, was very anxious to be discharged, but not anticipating so speedy a delivery, and, at the same time having a due re¬ gard to the danger of so doing, I refused her permission to go. In the Dispen¬ sary practice also, no patients are attended during labour; I, therefore, did not consider myself called upon to make any exception in this case. Directing the nurse to get a midwife to attend to the ordinary duties of the labour, I thought would have been all that was required of me. In this, perhaps, I may, in the opinion of some, have committed an error of judgment. I, however, felt myself bound to have attended the case had it proved difficult or unmanageable under the charge of the midwife, and, therefore, directed the nurse to let me know if anything untoward should happen. Not hearing from the Infirmary, I performed all the duties re¬ quired of me at the Asylum in the forenoon, as usual, before paying my daily visit there. 3d,— u My visits were very few for a case so serious.” I had seen the patient daily since her admission. Once on the Friday, when I found all doing well; twice (not once as erroneously stated) on the Saturday; twice on the Sunday, when alarm¬ ing symptoms made their appearance ; and twice on Monday, when she died. 4th,—“ I did not consult Dr Johnston, although specially instructed to do so in all cases of difficulty or danger.” I have no knowledge of any special instructions on this head, farther than we should mutually consult each other when we felt doubt as to the nature of the disease, or the treatment to be pursued. In this case I felt no uncertainty either as to the nature of the complaint, or as to the plan of of treatment I ought to have pursued, otherwise I should have acted as I have always hitherto done under similar circumstances. (Signed) T. C. MORISON. Statement of the Case of Christina Cameron, by Mr. Morison. Christina Cameron, age stated to be twenty-five, apparently older, unmarried, admitted from the country 30th April, 1852, seen by me on the 1st of May, when I examined her case, and found the usual symptoms of chronic inflammation of the liver, accompanied by general dropsy. The symptoms of inflammation to which I have referred were, great pain over the region of the liver, increased on pressure, pain extending up to the right shoulder—the liver itself being distinctly felt enlarged and hardened beneath the lower edge of the ribs—cough and slight difficulty of breathing—rapid hard pulse (beat 108 per minute)—tongue dry, of a brown colour, and thickly furred—constant nausea and loss of appetite, with occasional vomiting. The history she gave me of her case prior to admission was that she had lately travelled from Ross-shire, across the hills, in search of employment, and had been exposed to severe cold and wet—a likely cause to produce affections of the liver. Whilst upon her journey southwards, she first experienced pain in her right side. For some time before her admission, this pain had been very severe,