205 P. 473 | Cal. Ct. App. | 1922
The appellant was convicted of "practicing mode of treating sick without having valid unrevoked certificate of license from State Board of Medical Examiners." From the judgment pronounced and an order denying motion for new trial this appeal was taken.
[1] The charging part of the information reads as follows: "That the said A.D. Cochran on or about the 16 day of December, 1920, at, and in the County of Los Angeles, State of California, did willfully, unlawfully and feloniously practice, attempt to practice and advertise and hold himself out as practicing a system and mode of treating the sick and afflicted in the State of California, without then and there having a valid unrevoked certificate authorizing him to practice a system or mode of treating the sick and afflicted in the State of California, from the State Board of Medical Examiners of the State of California."
The principal contention of the defendant and appellant is that the information does not state facts sufficient to constitute a public offense. Our attention is called to the fact that in addition to the Medical Practice Act (Stats. 1913, p. 722) there is a statute in force in this state regulating the practice of veterinary surgeons. We think no person of common understanding could fail to know from a reading of the information that it charges the defendant with having treated sick and afflicted persons in violation of the Medical Practice Act rather than having violated the statute concerning the practice of veterinary surgeons. This information complies with section
[2] Appellant asks us to declare a legal distinction between "adjusting" and "treating" persons suffering from disease or discomfort. We are told that the defendant declared that he did not diagnose any case and so informed the patients who came to him; that he only "adjusted the vertebra" in order that nature might correct the difficulty. It is urged that, unless a diagnosis is made, it cannot be *396
said that a physician "treats" a patient. The proposition here argued is not an open question in this state. InPeople v. Jordan,
Another ground argued for reversal is that the information is defective in not alleging that defendant practiced a "system." The offense charged to have been committed by the defendant is "practicing mode of treating sick," etc. Appellant relies uponEx parte Greenall,
This language is almost identical with that held sufficient in People v. Ratledge,
[3] Again, the information is attacked because it does not specify whether or not appellant is charged with having used drugs. Under the act of 1913, applicable here, such an allegation is unnecessary to state an offense under its provisions. It prohibits practicing or attempting to practice "any system," etc.
The judgment and order appealed from are affirmed.
Finlayson, P. J., and Works, J., concurred.