The Jurisprudence of Medicine in Its Relation to the Law of Contracts, Torts, Evidence, with a Supplement on the Liabilities of Vendors of Drugs

This work was published in 1869 and written by John Ordronaux. He was a professor of medical jurisprudence and was also a Civil War Army surgeon. As far as pharmaceutical jurisprudence is concerned, as an adjunct to medicine, it is very regrettable that so little can be found among the judgments of our courts. This subject represents the most important problem in the tripartite relationship that sometimes exists between pharmacists, doctors and the public, and of course, as a branch of powers law, malpractices in it deserve the same praise in our criminal laws as similar misconduct in the field of practical medicine. However, in the history of our legislation, there is nothing more remarkable than the constant supervision carried out in this direction, and the consequent necessity imposed on the courts in claims for tortures committed by pharmacists, a search in the field of analogy of precedents, with the help of which they do not admit wrongdoing within the limits of their criminal jurisdiction. In a work written to meet the needs of both law and medical professionals, it was almost impossible not to continue the discussion of many principles beyond the point where, with a happy syncretism of both sciences, the author could easily be followed by the practice of both. Realizing from the outset how inevitable this should happen, the author at least tried to reduce the number of such cases to the minimum possible; and for this purpose, discussions of important legal principles are often compressed to certain limits, depriving them of any development of argumentation and replacing them with such crude terms that may seem to have a tinge of dogmatism. But the nature of the obligation left the author no other path to follow, since what was said in relation to legal principles would also apply equally to medical subjects. Therefore, avoiding any expansion of topics in directions where perhaps a broader argument could be justified, the author sought to combine precision with brevity, usually choosing an analytic form of syllogism and supporting legal conclusions with reasons why they rest synthetically. This work consists of four parts such as: “Rights, Remedies, And Liabilities Of Physicians”; “Medical Evidence”; “The Ethics Of Medicine” and “The Jurisprudence Of Pharmacy”.