The morbidity of medical practitioners

In Volume 9, Number 1 of Social History of Medicine Robert Woods provides estimates for the mortality of Victorian doctors, showing that younger doctors and less well placed practitioners fared poorly. In part of that essay he attempts also to estimate the morbidity that doctors experienced, assuming a fixed relationship between mortality and morbidity risk. This comment explains why that assumption should not be made. Further, Woods relies on an objection Jacques Bertillon raised to infer that sickness time in Britain did not increase between the 1860s and the 1890s. This comment reviews the comparison that Bertillon made between British and continental friendly societies and explains the misunderstandings that nullify Bertillon's objection.