A Barrier to Medical Treatment? British Medical Practitioners, Medical Appliances and the Patent Controversy, 1870 – 1920

From the late nineteenth century onwards there emerged an increasingly diverse response to escalating patenting activity. Inventors were generally supportive of legislation that made patenting more accessible, while others, especially manufacturers, saw patenting culture as an impediment. The medical profession claimed that patenting represented ‘a barrier to medical treatment’ and was thus detrimental to the nation's health, yet, as I argue, the profession's development of strict codes of conduct forbidding practitioners from patenting resulted in rebellion from some members, who increasingly sought protection for their inventions. Such polarized opinions within the medical trade continue to affect current medical practice today

A vindication of the forceps described and recommended by Dr. Leake: in which, the injudicious and illiberal remarks on that subject, signed Thomas Denman, are examined and refuted. By a late pupil of Dr. Leake's.

[2],21,[1]p. ; 4⁰.Half-title: 'The description and use of Dr. Leake's forceps vindicated.'.Reproduction of original from the British Library.English Short Title Catalog, ESTCT140689.Electronic data. Farmington Hills, Mich. : Thomson Gale, 2003. Page image (PNG). Digitized image of the microfilm version produced in Woodbridge, CT by Research Publications, 1982-2002 (later known as Primary Source Microfilm, an imprint of the Gale Group)