title: A barrier to medical treatment? British medical practitioners, medical appliances and the patent controversy, 1870-1920.
abstract: 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.
authors.affiliation: *School of History,Rutherford College,University of Kent,Canterbury,Kent,CT2 7NX,UK. Email:C.L.Jones-26@kent.ac.uk.
authors.forename: Claire L
authors.initials: CL
authors.lastname: Jones
mesh_terms: D004864:Equipment and Supplies / Q000266:history*; D006282:Health Personnel / Q000266:history* / Q000523:psychology; D049672:History, 19th Century; D049673:History, 20th Century; D062069:Inventions / Q000266:history*; D010330:Patents as Topic / Q000266:history* / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence; D006113:United Kingdom