The People vs. Dr. Kildare by Max Brand

Author:Max Brand [Brand, Max]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Medical, Romance
Publisher: Roy Glashan's Library
Published: 2019-09-01T22:00:00+00:00

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CHAPTER EIGHT

IT came over Kildare suddenly, as he regarded the judge, that he needed above all the support of the strongest friend he possessed in the world. But naturally, Gillespie could not be expected to give up his work for the sake of appearing in a courtroom. He must keep the line flowing steadily through his office, night and day. Like this man of the court, he was a judge, and he was pronouncing opinions that meant life or death.

The selection of the jury began at once. Neither lawyer seemed to care particularly who was taken from the panel to sit in the jury box; but it was interesting that no fewer than ten of those called admitted that they had read so much in the newspapers about the case that they already were prejudiced against the defendant. One elderly woman even went so far as to say: “It’s too bad it’s not a case where they could put a doctor behind the bars for murder. That’s what a lot of them do to get their money—murder!”

The judge stopped her at that. She went out with a bristling indignation, a righteous indignation, and the understanding looks and smiles of the crowd followed her. She had spoken the general mind of the whole assemblage, it was plain.

In forty minutes that jury was impanelled.

“Now,” murmured Channing, as Clinton rose to open the case for the prosecution, “we’re going to have a look into the great man’s mind.” And folding his arms tightly together, Channing slumped in his chair and fixed his bright eyes on the face of the prosecuting attorney.

With the bill of indictment in his hand, Clinton opened the trial. “In this case,” said he, speaking quietly, “we accuse the defendant, young Doctor Kildare, of malpractice. We could wish that he were an older man. The example then would be more convincing. The advantage of his youth lies in the fact that after disciplining he may be able to change his ways.

“We are interested here not so much in Doctor Kildare as in the whole subject of malpractice. There is no doubt that it exists. Ignorant, fraudulent or careless doctors are the curse of their profession and a menace to the public. But it is impossible, or almost impossible to convict of malpractice in a court of law. A strange delicacy prevents a doctor from testifying. And without professional testimony, how can we convict medical criminals? Their science necessarily remains a mystery to the uninitiated, and the uninitiate include all men and women who are not actual graduates of medical schools. This mystery we respect. We respect it blindly. Even when the knowledge is in our hands, we still will not permit ourselves to judge. We will not believe even what our eyes have seen and our ears have heard because we feel that we are too ignorant to interpret.

“In the present case we deal with a most extraordinary mass of evidence, because the acts were performed, strange to say, in the street.

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