From Mr C. V. Hammond, FRPharmS
SIR,—I think that Mr Cooper (PJ, September 16, p394)
is being somewhat unfair to the Society by overlooking efforts that were made
vigorously in the 1960s. I do not have the details of the meeting that was held
in the Albert Hall or of the Dickson case. I am only too aware of what age does
to memory, but Mr Cooper had been on the register for at least 10 years when
these were published. The following extract is from “150 years of The Pharmaceutical
Journal”, a supplement to The Pharmaceutical Journal published on July
6, 1991 (pJ29):
“Of the notable events covered by The Journal, the Society’s special
general meeting, held on Sunday, July 25, 1965, that turned out to be the precursor
of the Dickson case must live long in the memory of those who were there. And
there must still be many of those, because the venue was the Albert Hall crowded
to capacity. The Journal rose to the occasion with a full illustrated report
of the proceedings in that week’s issue.”
The outcomes of that meeting and of the Dickson case are, in my opinion, largely
the cause of the restrictions placed on the actions implied by Mr Cooper.
Victor Hammond
Southport,
Merseyside