MEDICAL MATTERS:The medical coverage of this newspaper has changed greatly in its 150 years, writes MUIRIS HOUSTON
Kaye's Worsdell's Pills: "Victims to indigestion, nervousness, physical debility, bilious and liver complaints, disease of the chest, lung and throat and all who desire to restore and establish their health with speed, certainty and economy, should immediately use these wonderful pills."
The Irish Timeshas just celebrated its 150th birthday: the advertisement above appeared in the first ever issue of the newspaper on Tuesday, March 29th, 1859.
In a section of ads labelled Medicals, the pills “prepared solely by John Kaye Esq.” were said to “strike at the root of disease, purify the blood, and strengthen and invigorate the entire system”.
And readers were promised “hundreds of cases of cure enclosed with each box”.
The advertisements on the front page also included one for “alternative and tonic medicines suitable to the season” and for a Mr O’Duffy, sole assistant to the surgeon dentist of St Vincent’s Hospital, who offered help “to those who are suffering from ill-adapted artificial teeth”.
Browsing further through the online archive, an 1867 advert for Dr Ricord’s essence of life offers to restore health and manhood in what seems to be a disguised reference to its Viagra-like qualities, the essence is described as “the most powerful remedy known for the cure of nervous and physical disability, local weakness, pain in back and premature decline, restoring in a few days the full vigour of youth”.
Ads for medical remedies continue to outnumber medical news items until the 1920s, although an ad for coal tar soap included the following endorsement from the Medical Times: "an unfailing remedy for foul breath (when used as a dentrifico) and an unpleasant odour for the person".
The first reference to a medical correspondent appears on January 4th, 1924, with a news story warning the public about bogus doctors.
Further dispatches in the following two decades continue from the unnamed medical correspondent.
December 20th, 1945 brings news from a “special” medical correspondent about the “fate of Éire’s struggling doctors”.
The piece goes on to call for a reduction in the numbers of medical students here, given that the vast majority were destined for export.
In the 1950s, The Irish Timeselevated its medical man or woman to the more proprietal "our medical correspondent".
On January 16th, 1950, the correspondent asks “are doctors failing to notify VD (venereal disease)?”
Referring to a letter circulated to doctors by the medical officer for Co Dublin, the report cites tensions between the legal requirement to report all cases of sexually transmitted infection and doctors’ concerns that medical confidentiality will be breached by so doing.
The anonymity of “our” medical correspondent continues until 1959, when the byline “Dr Alfred Byrne, Our medical correspondent” appears for the first time.
The decision to name the doctor may have been consistent with a change in the house style whereby Irish Timesjournalists were named in print for the first time.
And in what may have been a factor in allowing Dr Byrne to be named, in an article entitled “From brass plate to screen”, he describes a decision by the British Medical Association that a doctor would no longer have to remain anonymous when appearing on television or radio.
For a short period in the late 1960s, The Irish Timesreverted to the anonymous "our medical correspondent", that is until Dr David Nowlan was appointed to the post.
His first column on Thursday, March 20th, 1969 was titled “Medical Communication”.
“How else to begin a new medical correspondence but with a review of the business of medical communications . . . an attempt will be made in the first instance to define – more or less – the area in which the medical correspondent of a national daily newspaper can most usefully work” was how he began the first of many medical columns for The Irish Times.
Already an accomplished theatre reviewer for the newspaper, he set out in elegant style what his readers could and, indeed, could not expect from him through his writing.
He specifically ruled out a role for himself as a correspondent who would purport to “answer your medical problems”.
David contributed news stories, opinion pieces and feature articles as well as regular medical columns.
I have tried to follow faithfully, if less fluently, in his distinguished footsteps.
Dr Houston is pleased to hear from readers at mhouston@irishtimes.com but regrets he is unable to reply to individual medical queries