A Losing Battle

◆ It is feared by some that the medical world is losing its battle against germs. Antibiotics have brought victories against them in the past, but now drug-resistant germs are appearing in growing numbers. Some have proved to be major killers, one class killing 50 percent more people than are killed in automobile accidents each year. The drug-resistant germs are called gram-negative bacteria. They have become one of the major hazards to hospitalized patients.

Drug-oriented Society

◆ It is the view of Dr. R. M. Hayes, the medical officer to the Workmen’s Compensation Board of British Columbia in Canada, that people are too ready to take medicinal drugs. After pointing out that few drugs are free from unwanted side effects, he said: “Aspirin is a potent pain killer and is consumed annually by the ton, yet how many know that it can cause, or certainly aggravate, a peptic ulcer and disturb profoundly the very delicate blood clotting mechanism?”

The Vancouver coroner, he observed, is alarmed at how frequently he finds large amounts of various drugs in the blood of accident victims. Dr. Hayes observed that multitudes are “turning to chemical comfort rather than learn or be taught to handle their problems in a mature and natural way.”