MEMORIAL WREATH 
FOR THE 
PROSECUTION 
IN THE 
GRAVES MALPRACTICE SUIT. 
By LEVI C. LANE, M. D., 
Professor of Surgery in Cooper Medical College, San Francisco. 
"Quod medicina non sanat, ferrum sanat; quod ferrum non sanat, ignis sanat."- 
Aphorism of Hippocrates. ' L >■ 
I ( J / 
(Reprinted from the "Pacific Medical and rural/ 
and Western Lancet.") \, ' i MEMORIAL WREATH 
FOR THE 
PROSECUTION 
IN THE 
GRAVES MALPRACTICE SUIT. 
LEVI C. LANE, M. D., 
Professor of Surgery in Cooper Medical College, San Francisco. 
"Quod medicina non sanat, ferrum sanat; quod ferrum non sanat, ignis sanat."- 
Aphorism of Hippocrates. 
The medical profession of California have watched with special 
interest the case in which Dr. G. W. Graves, of Petaluma, was 
sued, over a year ago, for alleged malpractice. The cause of 
action was based on the charge of improper treatment of an in- 
jury to the ankle of an old woman-one of those injuries where, 
despite the utmost care and skill on the part of the surgeon, the 
perfect use of the joint can never be regained. Though it was 
proven by written authority, as well as by prominent expert 
evidence, that the doctor had treated the case properly, and had 
obtained as good results as are ever gotten in such injury; yet 
the legal managers of the prosecution, uninfluenced by these 
facts, of which they became cognizant at the very commence- 
ment of the trial, have waged against the defendant during this 
long period a most merciless legal warfare, and one that has 
had but one parallel in the medical annals of this coast. And 
the outrage was further intensified by the fact that the plaintiff's 
family had received unremunerated services, during many years, 
from Dr. Graves. 
Early in the case a compromise could have been effected, but 
the defendant, with more regard for his professional honor than 
for his purse, refused every overture of the kind; and, aided by 2 
The Graves Malpractice Suit. 
the moral as well as the financial support of the profession, and 
inspired by the principle which guided our forefathers in their 
struggle, viz., millions for defense, but not a cent for tribute, he 
has made a resistance that deserves all praise, for a compro- 
mise, though it would have saved him money, would have been 
the signal for many similar suits against others. 
The case has been tried three times, the first trial resulting in 
a verdict for eight thousand dollars against the defendant. This 
verdict, so at variance with what should have resulted from the 
evidence, awakened in the mind of almost every physician in this 
State a feeling of intense indignation'and the determined resolve, 
that the outrage should not be submitted to. At once, contribu- 
tions were freely offered for the defense, amounting in the aggre- 
gate to nearly two thousand dollars. "With this money additional 
legal counsel was employed, viz.: Hall McAllister, Esq., and 
Dr. E. R. Taylor of this city; and, after no slight effort, the 
shameful verdict was set aside, and the case re-opened for trial. 
At the second trial no decision was arrived at, the jury being 
divided; but at the third trial justice was triumphant, and vic- 
tory crowned the side of right in a full acquittal of Dr. Graves. 
This verdict, so gratifying to the defendant, is almost as much 
so to the general profession, of which several of the leading 
members, besides liberally contributing money, spent some 
days of precious time in attendance at court, to reach which, 
the most of them were compelled to travel long distances. But 
all will now feel more than repaid in the consciousness of hav- 
ing aided in rolling back the flood of injustice which was threat- 
ening to ingulf in ruin a professional brother. And besides 
this feeling of happiness, their united action has taught the 
lesson, that should a like instance recur, they will be quite as 
ready for concerted defense again; for, though the lance which 
they have lately so successfully wielded is laid in its rest, yet 
all will see to it, that its point is kept sharp, and ready for action. 
All may be assured that this serpent, the foul offspring of com- 
munism, as often as it may be evoked from its slimy pool by legal 
incantations, will be returned again to its festering home with- 
out doing other violence than leaving its fangs in those who 
may conjure it forth. Whenever this Hercules, in the form of a 
mal-practice suit, is sent forth in quest of golden apples, the 
profession are determined that he shall return, as on this occa- 
sion, laden only with apples of Sodom, whose bitterness will The Graves Malpractice Suit. 
3 
leave an interminable writhing in the mouths of those who sent 
him on such mission. 
The fancy of Schiller has painted a strange scene, in which 
young Moor is studying how he may shorten the life of his 
father; he decides the surest plan would be to suddenly fill the 
old man's heart with intense happiness, and then, in a moment, 
to overwhelm him with grief and despair; in the course of this 
suit, this experiment, instead of in fancy, has been exhibited in 
reality. What wild joy the actors in this prosecution must have 
tasted when they obtained a verdict for eight thousand dollars; 
and with what heart-aches they must have been tortured when 
they saw the last glitter of those ducats returning to the pocket 
of their rightful owner! Some curious psychologist would do 
well to chronicle how much their life-span has been shortened 
at its distal end by such experience. 
Great praise is due to the attorneys who aided in the defense: 
Mr. McAllister, too long ago recognized as facile princeps at the 
bar of California, for any new salutations of praise to touch 
his ear, deserves thanks for snatching some time from his over- 
worked hours, and ably co-operating in the management which 
led the way to final victory in the case; and, especially, is high 
credit due to Edward R. Taylor, who, though a graduate in med- 
icine, has chosen the law as his profession; to his untiring work 
the final result is mainly due; for, besides bringing that special 
knowledge, which is so valuable in such a case, he threw his 
heart and soul into the matter, and worked with the zeal and en- 
thusiasm of a personal friend of the medical profession. 
The history of this case would be more satisfactory if it could 
close without reference to certain medical men who allied them- 
selves with the plaintiff, and, as far as it was possible, aided in 
the prosecution. Some of these men are residents of San Fran- 
cisco, and gave their evidence by deposition; but the two who 
were especially active in this work-unnatural as throwing stones 
at a mother-were present at the trial, and mingled in their evi- 
dence an amount of malevolence which has brought on them the 
universal contempt of the medical profession. Their position 
now finds a proper parallel in the case of the traitor Benedict 
Arnold, who, after the close of our Colonial war, being asked 
by some European for introductory letters to the New World, 
replied, that he was the only man in Europe who had no friends 
in America. As Ulysses, in his visit to Hades, being repelled 
by his old enemy Ajax, learned that the resentments of the dead 4 
The Graves Malpractice Sait. 
are eternal, so these men will find that those of the living are 
no less so. Should they desire to return to the profession, 
whose altar they have sullied, ignominy, as a flaming sword, will 
forever prevent them. Such action, whithersoever it may turn, 
will find no rest; for should it think to find a screen for its 
offences in the flight of years, it will search in vain, since in the 
untrodden labyrinths of futurity, there will be found no hidden 
recess where the finger of infamy will not follow it; nay, more, 
death itself will give such action no refuge, since disgrace and 
dishonor will carve their initials upon its grave-stone as an un- 
fading epitaph. 
SUPPLEMENT. 
The above was written and intended as a memorial offering to 
the defeated in this important trial; but while it was in the 
hands of the printer, and on the eve of appearing, information 
was received that the plaintiff had asked for a new trial. But as a 
pleasure deferred is not a pleasure lost, so the solace which 
might have been theirs at an earlier hour, has been but briefly 
deferred. 
Not content with a verdict which has given satisfaction to all 
fair-minded persons, not satisfied with the unmerited scourging 
with which they have tortured the defendant for many months, 
yet unconvinced that the support which the profession had 
given the defense was founded on the knowledge that he was 
wholly innocent of any neglect of duty to the patient, the prose- 
cution, finding it hard to relinguish a prize, which at one time 
seemed plainly to be theirs, have asked for a re-opening of the 
case. A.nd thus they would add another scene to this merciless 
drama, in which honest thrift and prudent industry have so 
long been held the counterpoise in the scales of justice, of 
dissipation and improvidence. But this last menace must ex- 
pire as a menace, for death has too effectually touched the vital 
centers of this many headed serpent to admit of resuscitation, in 
fact, this final effort has evidently been made, more for the pur- 
pose of annoyance than with any hope of success, since it has 
been the boast of, at least, one member of the prosecution, that 
a purpose of the suit was to humiliate the profession which had 
so persistently defended one of its members. To what a depth 
of moral degradation the spirit must have fallen, that can in- 
dulge in such fiendish malice. The espousal of the cause of 
Dr. Graves by the profession was, without doubt, the most The Graves Malpractice Suit. 
5 
praise-worthy movement which can be found in the medical his- 
tory of the Pacific Coast. Men who have repeatedly declined 
tempting fees to make professional visits in the country, on this 
occasion, forgetting every selfish interest, abandoned their busi- 
ness, and made great personal sacrifices. And forwhat object ? 
To defeat justice as the prosecution cunningly put it in their 
argument ? No, it was to promote justice and prevent its miscar- 
riage. And all this was done without a single hope of reward, 
either direct or contingent. In fact, the thought of profit and 
gain entered the minds of the medical witnesses who testified in 
behalf of the defense, quite as little as it did the head of Dr. 
Graves, when he went to the house of this misguided woman to 
treat her injury. And were those witnesses now sued for their 
pains, the outrage would find a parallel in the treatment which 
the physician has received from the hands of this woman. 
Indeed, the errands of mercy and charity in which the physi- 
cian's feet are daily wearied tend to banish from his heart that 
selfishness which is so prominent an element in human nature; 
nay, more, to lift and place him on a plane of self-abnegation, 
quite unknown to those who have not been so tutored. To 
support this assertion by pertinent proof, what greater example 
of altruism and extinction of self can be found than the fact that 
no physician is permitted to conceal or patent any discovery in 
medicine, and if he does so, he is guilty of an ethical offence 
which excludes him from all association with his fellows. Ad- 
herence to this rule, which goes a step beyond the golden, has 
cost many a medical inventor and discoverer a prospective fort- 
une. Had Jenner patented vaccination, to-day his heirs would 
have the wealth of Rothschilds. And yet of this profession, 
whose cardinal principle has ever been to work for the world 
rather than for itself, a member has been singled out whose 
excellent attainments and skill, acquired in civil and military 
practice, have never been questioned, and were especially illus- 
trated in the good results obtained in the treatment of this wo- 
man; and because he sought to vindicate his honor as a physi- 
cian and refused to surrender his purse when parties, brigand- 
like, were seeking, under guise of law, to wrest it from him, he 
has been pursued wi|h fell diligence, and. for month after month, 
scourged with a whip of scorpions. Unmoved by the sight 
of this "man of unsubdued spirit, bravely struggling against 
adversity, a spectacle in which God himself takes delight," to 6 
The Graves Malpractice Suit. 
quote the words of Eugene Sue, the prosecution have added to 
the enormity of their offence by declaring that they intended to 
humiliate the profession who, at the call of their victim, came to 
his aid. They have probably learned that the seeds of humilia- 
tion, if they would flourish, must be planted in far other soil. 
As the parties of the prosecution have failed in every object 
for which they contended, the question arises, what have they 
done for themselves ? If historic indifference, under the guid- 
ance of impartial criticism, cast its eye on the disconsolate group, 
and indulge in a few observations, the following facts will be 
learned. The plaintiff, no longer needing her crutch or mal- 
position of the limbs, has won something, but her attorneys, 
after having worked with the energy that is inspired by empty 
maws and empty purses, and having seen the prize that was 
once won fall from their grasp, now stand as " men who have 
had their losses." Nay, more, the hostility which their enven- 
omed action has awakened in the mind of every honorable phy- 
sician in this state, has projected a long penumbral shadow 
athwart the orbit of their future lives. 
As to the medical prosecutors, who listened to the temptation 
to gratify local envy and personal hate, and to do so, like the 
young of the spider, turned on and devoured their mother, but 
little additional need be entwined in the wreath already woven 
for them. None will envy them the satisfaction they have had 
in torturing a professional brother. To mitigate the bitterness 
of the cup, which the hand of retributive justice surely lifts to 
the lips of him who unjustly injures, they should hasten their 
repentance, and as visible evidence of the same, they should 
sprinkle their heads with the ashes of their burnt honor, and 
clothe themselves in sackcloth woven from the tattered remains 
of that once spotless robe with which they were invested when 
they were admitted to the profession of medicine, and took on 
themselves its vows. 
How different in contrast stands the defendant! Witharms 
well tutored in the practice of defense, with patience begotten 
of prolonged discipline, gladdened by the approval of friends, 
and the encouraging salutation of every upright member of the 
medical profession, with heart full of content, and warmed with 
emotions of triumph in a just cause, he now, with fearless spirit 
and armor well tried at every point, stands erect, and, come what 
may, he will go forth an assured victor in the struggles of life.