The existence of an epidemic does not authorise the charging of exorbitant fees [23].
In some ages and countries the fees payable to medical practitioners have been fixed by law. In Persia, for instance, in ancient times the law said that “a physician shall treat a priest for a pious blessing, or a spell; the master of a house for a small draught animal; the lord of a district for a team of four oxen; and if he cure the mistress of a house a female ass shall be his fee.” (Vendidad Farg. VII.) To take another instance, the medical men in attendance upon the old princes of Wales had their fees settled; for curing a slight wound, a surgeon received for payment the clothes of the injured person which had been stained with blood; |20| and for curing a dangerous wound he had, in addition to the bloody clothing, board and lodging while in attendance, and 180 pence. In Egypt, according to Herodotus, practitioners were paid out of the public treasury, although they might also receive fees from their patients.
A medical man can also recover for the services rendered by his assistants or students; and that even though the assistant is unregistered [24]. It is not necessary that there should be any agreed specified price, he will be allowed what is usual and reasonable [25].
The right of a medical man to recover his charges for professional services does not depend upon his effecting a cure, or on his services being successful, unless there is a special agreement to that effect. It does not depend upon the fortune of the case whether it be good or bad, but upon the skill, diligence and attention bestowed. For, as a general rule, a physician does not guarantee the success of his treatment; he knows that that depends upon a higher power. Still, some good must have resulted from his efforts. The rule appears to be that if there has been no beneficial service there shall be no pay; but if some benefit has been derived, though not to the extent expected, this shall go to the amount of the plaintiff’s demand, leaving the defendant to his action for negligence [26]. The practitioner must be prepared to show that his work was properly done, if that be disputed, in order to prove that he is entitled to his reward [27]. Where the surgical implements employed in amputating an arm were a large butcher knife and a carpenter’s sash-saw, it was held that the Court rightly charged the jury, that if the |21| operation was of service, and the patient did well and recovered, the surgeon was entitled to compensation, though it was not performed with the highest degree of skill, or might have been performed more skilfully by others [28].