Life Extension

It is not ethical for physicians to advertise except by a neat name- sign in the window of their residences. Seldom does one see in the public press such cards as: Dr. Lafcadio Schnapps

Will Cure

Colds, eczema, intestinal stasis, pneumonia and warts

He will cut corns, appendixes, adenoids, goiters

and his rates (for cash customers) . . .

Office Hours, 8 to 8

But for a long time magazines, newspapers, have been embellished with arresting advertisements like one that the New York Times carried last week:

New Years for Old How old do you think you are? The family Bible will not tell you. The calendar will not guide you. "Born January 1st, 1886" does not tell you the condition of your tissues. It is your condition that counts and you cannot find that out in the birth records. You can find it through a health examination at the Life Extension Insti- tute. . . . Over, 400,000 other men and women have taken the health examinations of the Life Extension Institute ....

LIFE EXTENSION INSTITUTE, INC.

25 West 43rd Street, New York

Telephone: Vanderbilt 1494

People who do not happen to be numbered among the "400,000 other men and women who have taken the health examinations" have often wondered just what sort of organization this Institute is, and how it is regarded by conservative, practising physicians. Last week Dr. Morris Fishbein, Editor of the Journal of the American Medical Association curtly described it as "a middleman, which deals with the patient, collects the fee, and then doles out to the physician what is conceived to be an adequate share." He said:

"The commercial organizations in this field vary in size and scope from one with some 8,000 or more affiliated medical examiners to the one - room commercial laboratory devoted almost wholly to periodic examinations of urine. . . .

"It is time that the medical profession opposed vigorously the com- mercialization of medical practice. The greatest opposition can be achieved by the complete assumption of the task of periodic physical examination by individual physicians. Experience has shown that the patient is best served by a competent physician who is intimately acquainted with his problem, who has served his family for many years and who will be able to conduct such an examination according to a systematic plan."