162 Ga. 246 | Ga. | 1926
The State Board of Medical Examiners caused to be served upon Talbert W. Hughes, physician who had been licensed to practice medicine in this 'State, a notice preferring certain charges against him, a copy of which charges it was alleged was served upon Hughes personally by the deputy sheriff of Fulton County, Georgia, on January 21, 1924, as provided by the act of 1913 (Acts 1913, p. 101), as amended by the act of 1918 (Acts 1918, p. 173). The charges preferred were: (1) conviction of crime involving moral turpitude; (2) causing the publication and circulation of an advertisement' relative to diseases of the sexual
1. The questions before this court to be decided are those raised by the demurrer. Grounds 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7 challenge the sufficiency of the notice served upon the plaintiff-in error, for various reasons: that the notice fails to show that a copy of the charges therein referred to .is attached to such notice, as provided by section 14 of the act of 1918 (Acts 1918, p. 173); that the notice shows that a copy of the charges relied upon is not attached, but that the hearing therein referred to and 'proposed to be held would be upon charges served at some different time than that when service of such notice was attempted; that the contents of the notice show that the same was not given upon the preferment of the charges before the board, but that the proposed hearing would be upon charges therein alleged to have been preferred and served on Japuary 21, 1924, some nine months prior to the date of the notice in the present ease; that the notice fails to set forth or refer to the law under which the board claims to have the authority or power to give such notice summoning demurrant to appear before it, and that the same should be made to appear; that the copy of the charges served up'on the demurrant was undated, unsigned, and anonymous as to who was responsible for same, by
Section 14 of the act of 1918, supra, provides that upon the preferment before the State Board of either of said charges above enumerated (including “conviction of crime involving moral turpitude,” and “causing the publication and circulation of an ad
3. Grounds 8 and 9 of the demurrer attack the constitutionality of the acts of 1913 and 1918, which latter act is amendatory of the act of 1913, on the ground that they deny to the plaintiff in error due process of law under both the State and Federal constitutions, as provided in art. 1, sec. 1, par. 3, of the constitution of Georgia, which is as follows: “No person shall be deprived of life, liberty, or property, except by due process of law;” and of the 14th amendment to the constitution of the United States, which provides, “No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States, nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property without due process of law, nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.” Section 14 of the act of 1918 (Acts 1918, pp. 173, 193), is as follows:
“Be it further enacted, that said board may refuse to grant a license to practice medicine in this State, or may cause a licentiate’s name to be removed from the records in the office of any clerk of court in this State, on the following grounds, to wit: The employment of fraud or deception in applying for license or in passing the examination provided for in this act; conviction of crime involving moral turpitude; conviction for the violation of any penal provision of the ‘Opium Act of 1914,’ or ‘Harrison Act,’ also called the ‘Harrison Narcotic Law;’ the practice of medicine under a false or assumed name or the impersonation of another practitioner of a like or different name; habitual intemperance in the use of ardent spirits, narcotics, or stimulants to such an ex
“Upon the preferment before said board of either of said charges above enumerated against any licentiate or applicant for license, it shall be the duty of said board to cause written notices of the time and place of hearing upon said charge, together with a copy of the charge preferred, to be served upon such licentiate or applicant'twenty days before hearing. Said board shall prepare two copies of said written notice and attach to each of said notices a copy of the charge preferred, and cause the same to be delivered to the sheriff or his deputy of the county of the residence of the licentiate or applicant against whom charge has been preferred, together with two dollars as a fee for service, who shall within ten days deliver to such licentiate or applicant personally, or leave at the most notorious place of abode of such party, one of said notices, with a copy of said charge attached, and then return the other notice with copy charge attached thereto to said board, together with said officer’s entry of service thereon. Said licentiate or applicant shall have the privilege to make defense at said hearing, either in person or by attorney, and on application to said board he shall be furnished by said board with a subpoena for any witness in his behalf, or for the production of any book, writing, paper, or document to be used in his behalf on said hearing. Said board shall have the power to compel the attendance of any witness or the production of any book, writing, or other document in the possession, custody, or control of any witness or other person, at such hearing of said board; and any witness or person refusing to produce any boob, writing, or other document, or to appear to testify, without legal excuse, at such hearing of said board, after having been served with a subpoena issued by said ■ board requiring such witness to appear, produce any book, writing, or other document, or testify at such hearing, shall be guilty of contempt, and upon certification of such act by said board to the judge of the superior court in whose jurisdiction said hearing is held or to be held, the judge shall punish the same as though committed before him.
“No license of any applicant shall be refused nor license of any licentiate shall be revoked on account of the default or failure of
It is apparent from reading this section of the act under review that it provides for-notice and time of hearing, for service of the notice, for the production of the defendant’s evidence, for making his defense, and for an appeal from the decision of the State Board of Medical Examiners to a jury in the superior court. This being so, we can not hold that the act denies to the demur-rant due process of law.
3. Ground 10 of the demurrer attacks that portion of section 14 of the act of 1918 where it provides for an appeal to a jury, in the following language: “said appeal to be had as in other cases now provided by law.” The point is made that no time is stipulated within which the appeal must be entered, “for while code § 5000 provides for entering of appeals to superior courts within four days after the adjournment of the court in which the judgment was rendered, this can not be applied definitely to a hearing before said State Board, for as to the latter there is no ‘court or adjournment’ thereof.” We are of the opinion that this ground of the demurrer is without merit. Under the general law every appeal must be entered to the superior court within four days; and unless there are provisions made where a greater or less time is fixed for entering appeals in particular cases, the general provision of the law in the Civil Code of 1910, § 5000, will control. When this case was before this court on the petition for injunction (158 Ga. 602), this court held: “As the plaintiff has adequate and complete remedies at law by which, in the first in
4. Section 14 of the act of 1918 is attacked for the reason that the language in the act which declares that a licentiate’s name may be removed from the records in the office of any clerk of court in this State, and his license revoked upon the ground of “conviction of crime involving moral turpitude” of the licentiate, is so vague, uncertain, and indefinite as to render the same void; that it is not therein defined what shall constitute “crime involving moral turpitude,” and that such provision in the act fails to specify what offenses come within its terms, and therefore that the demurrant in a proceeding to revoke his license and cause his name to be removed from the records can not know from the language of the act what it covers, or be put on notice as to what the above term means; and that the attempt to try demurrant under the provision of the act of 1918, quoted above, and to revoke his license on such ground, would be violative of the provisions of art. 1, sec. 1, par. 3, of the constitution of Georgia, and of the 14th amendment of the constitution of the United States, and would subject him to the penalty for practicing medicine after the revocation of his license, thus depriving him of his liberty without due process of law, etc. It is also insisted by the demur-rant that under such provision he would be precluded from having considered by the board the question of whether the alleged conviction had any bearing upon the present fitness and right of Hughes to practice his profession, the bare fact alone of conviction of a crime which the board might decide as involving moral turpitude being made the sole consideration under the act. The
In discussing the question of the meaning of the words “moral turpitude” in the case of Holloway v. Holloway, 126 Ga. 459, 460 (55 S. E. 191, 7 L. R. A. (N. S.) 272, 115 Am. St. E. 102, 7 Ann. Cas. 1164), Judge Cobb said: “The Civil Code declares, among the grounds for divorce, ‘the conviction of either party for an offense involving moral turpitude, and under which he or she is sentenced to imprisonment in the penitentiary for the term of two years or longer/ [1895] § 2426, par. 8. The respondent was sentenced to the penitentiary exceeding two years, and the right of the libellant to a divorce depends upon whether the offense of which he was convicted involved moral turpitude. Turpitude in its ordinary sense involves the idea of inherent baseness or vileness, shameful wickedness, depravity. Webster’s International Diet. In its legal sense it includes everything contrary to justice, honesty, modesty, ox good morals. Black’s Law Diet.; Bouvier’s Law Diet. The word ‘moral’ which so often precedes the word ‘turpitude,’ does not seem to add anything to the meaning of the term, other than that emphasis which often results from a tautological expression. All crimes embraced within the Roman’s conception of the crimen falsi involve turpitude; but it is not safe to declare that such crimes only involve turpitude. Murder involves vileness and depravity; for it is the result of an abandoned and malignant heart. Yoluntary manslaughter involves the intentional destruction of human life. It is true that there is no deliberation, no malice, in the act constituting the offense, but the manslayer intends to kill, and carries out the intention in an unlawful manner. It may be the result of passion or temper, and the law in its mercy visits a less penalty than that inflicted for wilful killing; but it necessarily involves the intention to unlawfully deprive another of life. Whenever one intentionally and wrongfully takes human life, he does an act which is base, vile, depraved, and contrary to good morals. That the offense of voluntary manslaughter involves moral turpitude can not admit of serious question. See, in this connection, 5 Words & Phrases, 4580.” So, following the line of reasoning of Judge Cobb, we are of the opinion that the words “moral turpitude” in the act are not so vague and indefinite as to be void, but that they have
With reference to the criticism directed against the act that it would prevent a physician from the right to practice, though he might otherwise be qualified, and that it would deprive him of a valuable property right, it is said in 21 R. C. L. 352, II, 3, that “The right to practice medicine is, like the right to practice any other profession, a valuable property right, in which, under the constitution and laws of the State, one is entitled to be protected and secure. On the other hand the preservation of public health is one of the duties devolving on the State as the sovereign power, and the discharge of this duty is accomplished by means of the exercise of the inherent police power of the sovereign. Thus is presented a conflict between the right of a citizen to follow a profession, and the right of the State to protect the health and welfare of its citizens; but not a very serious conflict, because the outcome is always clear. Every citizen has the undoubted right to follow any lawful calling, business, or profession he may select, subject only to such restrictions as the government may impose for the welfare and safety of society. This right is one of the distinguishing features of republican institutions. Many of the occupations of life may be followed by persons, irrespective of fitness, without danger to the public health, or any detriment to the general welfare; others demand special knowledge, training, or experience; and the power of the State to prescribe such restrictions and regulations for those as, in its judgment, shall protect the people from the consequences of ignorance or incapacity, as well as of deception and fraud, has never been questioned. This is especially true with respect to the practice of medicine. Nearly every one, of necessity, consults the physician at some period of
It is also said in 21 R. C. L. 355, § 5: “As no one has a vested right to practice medicine free from State regulation and control, it follows that present or prior practitioners can not, against a statute which provides that they must secure a license before practicing further, raise the constitutional objection that they are being deprived of property without due process of law. Past practice of medicine can not vest in any one the right to continue free from State control. . . § 6. The relation of physician and patient is of such a confidential and serious nature, that not only the skill but also the moral character of the physician is of great importance to the interest of the patient and the State. It is important that only men of good character should practice medicine, and a State may require that an applicant ‘for a license present a certificate of good moral character before the license will be given to him, or may rightfully determine what else shall be the evidence of that character. The immoral conduct of the applicant may bar him, even though the immorality is not directly connected with the practice of his profession, for the object sought is the protection of the home of the sick and distressed from the intrusion therein, in a professional character, of vicious and unprincipled men — men wholly destitute of all moral sensibilities. And legislation requiring such a proof of good moral character may be passed subsequent to the commission of an act which is made the evidence of good character, for such legislation is not a constitutional punishment for past offenses, is not ex post facto legislation, but merely prescribes what shall be evidence of present qualifications. (Hawker v. N. Y., 170 U. S. 189, 18 S. Ct. 573, 42 U. S. (L. ed.) 1002.) But where the refusal to grant a license is based on the bad character of the applicant, he is en
In the case of Hawker v. New York, 170 H. S. 189, 192 (supra), Mr. Justice Brewer, speaking for the court, said: “No precise limits have been placed upon the police power of a State, and yet it is clear that legislation which simply defines the qualifications of one who attempts to practice medicine is a proper exercise of that power. Care for the public health is something confessedly belonging to the domain of that power. . The physician is one whose relations to life and health are of the most intimate character. It is fitting that not merely should he possess a knowledge of diseases and their remedies, but also that he should be one who may safely be trusted to apply those remedies. Character is as important a qualification as knowledge; and if the legislature may properly require a definite course of instruction, or a certain examination as to learning, it may with equal propriety prescribe what evidence of good character shall be furnished. These propositions have been often affirmed. In Dent v. West Virginia, 129 U. S. 114, 122 [supra], it was said, in respect to the qualifications of a physician: ‘The power of the State to provide for the general welfare of its people authorizes it to prescribe all such regulations as, in its judgment, will secure or tend to secure them against the consequences of ignorance and incapacity as well as of deception and fraud.’ We note also these further declarations from State courts: In State v. State Medical Examining Board, 32 Minn. 324, 327 [20 N. W. 238, 50 Am. R. 575], it was said:
“But if a State may require good character as a condition of
G-round 9 of the demurrer challenges the legality of the acts of 1913 and 1918, on the ground that there is no provision in the acts creating the board as to who shall prefer charges against a licentiate. This ground is without merit.
The 15th ground of the demurrer attacks the acts of the legis
The question of the regulation of the professional conduct of doctors and of their fees is not of recent origin. “The oldest code of laws in the world” of which we are aware, promulgated by Hammurabi, King of Babylon, B. C. 2285-2242, published by T. & T. Clark, Edinburgh, 1905, and which was discovered on a buried monument, or block of black diorite, nearly eight feet high, by an archaeologist in 1902 in Babylonia, and which has been translated and published, contains the following:
“215. If a doctor has treated a gentleman for a severe wound with a bronze lancet and has cured the man, or has opened an abscess of the eye for a gentleman with a bronze lancet and has cured the eye of the gentleman, he shall take ten shekels of silver.” (A shekel of silver is equivalent to about 621/2 cents.)
“216. If he [the patient] be the son of a poor man, he shall take five shekels of silver.
“217. If he be a gentleman’s servant, the master of the servant shall give two shekels of silver to the doctor.
“218. If the doctor has treated a gentleman for a severe wound with a lancet of bronze and has caused the gentleman to die, or has opened an abscess of the eye for a gentleman with the bronze*263 lancet and has caused the loss of the gentleman’s eye, one shall cut of£ his hands.
“219. If a doctor has treated the severe wound of a slave of a poor man with a bronze lancet and has caused his death, he shall render slave for slave.
“220. If he has opened his abscess with a bronze lancet and has made him lose his eye, he shall pay money, half his price.
“221. If a doctor has cured the shattered limb of a gentleman, or has cured the diseased bowel, the patient shall give five shekels of silver to the doctor.
“222. If it is the son of a poor man, he shall give three shekels of silver.
“223. If a gentleman’s servant, the master of the slave shall give two shekels of silver to the doctor.”
From what has been said above and the authorities cited, we are of the opinion that the grounds of the demurrer are without merit, and the court did not err in overruling the same.
Judgment affirmed.