A three million dollar libel suit will be the reply of the Jewish Consumptives Relief Society to opposition members of the New York advisory board of the sanatorium who have applied for an injunction to prevent the J.C.R.S. from raising funds in New York, it was announced here today by the board of trustees of the 45-year-old institution.
Philip Hornbein, Sr., a vice-president of the institution and one of the original founders of the J.C.R.S. in 1904, said the libel suit will be filed in New York at the earliest possible moment against the New York critics of the sanatorium.
Mr. Hornbein called the accusations against the J.C.R.S. “false, fantastic and slanderous — maliciously so.” He said the New York group has been attempting for two years to seize control of the J.C.R.S., but has been defeated twice in the Federal courts in New York in their efforts to hold up funds which had been solicited for the upkeep of patients in the sanatorium.
“The standing of our institution” said Mr. Hornbein, chairman of the legal advisory committee, “is very high. The Colorado State Board of Health has certified it as being excellently managed. The seal of approval on the life-saving work of the J.C.R.S. has been stamped by all the country’s major standardizing medical, surgical and health bodies. Today the sanatorium is approved by the American Medical Association, the American College of Chest Physicians, the American College of Surgeons, the American Hospital Association, the National Tuberculosis Association, the Colorado Tuberculosis Society and the Denver Tuberculosis Society.”
Charges of inadequate treatment of patients were denied by Dr. John B. Grow, Assistant Professor of Surgery at the University of Colorado Medical College and thoracic surgeon at the J.C.R.S. Dr. Grow said: “The J.C.R.S. makes available to its patients the most modern treatments, such as lobotomy and pneumonectomy. The patients receive regular thorough check-ups. We have a full consultant staff of leading physicians. The latest drugs such as streptomycin and de-hydrostreptomycin are administered to the patients without any regard to their costliness. No one ever told me to limit the use of drugs because of their cost.”
Delegates from J.C.R.S. auxiliaries in cities from Seattle to Miami are now holding a three-day conference here under the chairmanship of Mrs. Mark Harris of New York, president of the national council of the institution’s auxiliaries. At today’s session they adopted a resolution sharply criticizing the opposition group in New York and pledging to increase fund-raising efforts in their communities.
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The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
