The official accouchement of the Allied Medical Associations of America occurred, according to that organization’s report, May 18, 1918. On the official stationery of the Allied Medical Associations of America in use in May, 1919, we find the names of the “Officers,” “Censors,” etc. These constitute, presumably, the more prominent members of this organization. We give briefly, some data regarding some of these so that a rational perspective may be obtained:
L. M. Ottofy, M.D., St. Louis, Mo.—Dr. Ottofy seems to have been the chief organizer, if not, indeed, the founder. He has been its “Secretary-Treasurer” since its inception; he is also “editor” of its journal. Ottofy, according to our records, was born in 1865 at Budapest, Hungary, and was graduated in 1888 by the Homeopathic Medical College of Missouri. In Polk’s Medical Directories for 1914 and 1917, Ottofy has those extended notices which any physician can obtain who cares to pay for them. According to these notices, Ottofy is, or has been, affiliated with the following “societies”:
President of the International Cancer Research Society.
Ex-President of the St. Louis Society of Medical Research.
Second Vice President of the Missouri Institute of Homeopathy.
General Secretary of the American Association of Progressive Medicine.
Chairman of the Board of Censors of the Missouri Institute of Homeopathy.
Member of the American Institute of Homeopathy.
Member of the Southern Homeopathic Association.
Member of the American Association of Orificial Surgeons.
Member of the Southern Homeopathic Medical Society.
Member of the Kansas City Society of Medical Research.
Honorary member of the Chicago Society of Medical Research.
In December, 1911, numerous newspaper clippings show that Dr. Ottofy was obtaining much publicity relative to his antivaccination activities. At that time the papers reported that Ottofy was suing the St. Louis Board of Education for $25,000 damages, because the board would not admit to the schools of the city a child he had “internally” vaccinated. In November, 1913, the St. Louis Republic reported that Ottofy had claimed to have discovered a serum for the cure of cancer, and quoted Ottofy as claiming “a record of 72 per cent. of cures” in “selected cases.” In February, 1914, the newspapers reported that Ottofy was making a trip east “on the trail of radium for use in his practice in the cure of cancer” and quoted him as stating, “I have learned on good authority that there is radium in Missouri, and just where I refuse to divulge at this time.” In January, 1915, the St. Louis Republic reported that Ottofy, at a meeting of the “St. Louis Society of Medical Research,” had announced that he had perfected a serum treatment for cancer, which “is curing patients who have been pronounced incurable by so-called ‘cancer experts.’ ” In January, 1916, the St. Louis Star reported that Ottofy had sought an injunction against the Board of Education of St. Louis to restrain it from using its funds for “the maintenance of a Board of Hygiene.” In July, 1916, St. Louis papers recorded that Ottofy, who was then running for coroner, had been cited to appear before the prosecuting attorney to explain a charge of passing out, at a political meeting, a card alleged to have borne an indecent drawing of President Wilson. The prosecuting attorney was said to have instructed Ottofy to bring the plates from which the cards were printed to his office. Two days later the papers stated that Ottofy had sent the cards and plates by messenger to the prosecuting attorney’s office.
N. La Doit Johnson, M.D., Chicago.—Dr. Johnson’s name appears as the “First Vice-President” of the Allied Medical Associations of America. A few years ago, Dr. Johnson’s name also appeared as the “Dean of the Faculty” of the “American Post Graduate School.” This “school” was a mail-order concern which, according to the “Annual Announcement,” would grant diplomas and confer degrees as follows: “Master of Surgery,” “Bachelor of Medicine,” “Bachelor of Science,” “Master of Electro-Therapy,” “Doctor of Osteopathy,” “Doctor of Psychology,” “Master of Massage,” etc.
H. M. Goehring, D.O., M.D., Pittsburgh, Pa.—The “Second Vice-President,” according to the letterheads of the “Association” carries the letters D.O., M.D., after his name. So far as our records show, and they are most complete and based on official data, H. M. Goehring is an osteopath, but not a doctor of medicine.
A. E. Erling, M.D., Milwaukee, Wis.—A. E. Erling, according to the stationery, is “Chairman” of “Censors.” Our records fail to show that Erling ever graduated in medicine. The Health Department of Milwaukee, however, says that Erling, when interviewed, claimed to have “a diploma from the German Medical College of Chicago, but refused to show or present the same.” The American Medical Directory has this item:
German Medical College, Chicago. Chartered Dec. 28, 1891, by Johann Malok. Fraudulent. Extinct.
A few years ago Erling was in La Crosse, Wis.; and in 1908 a circular letter bearing his name and picture was sent out from which the following extracts are taken. Capitalization as in the original: