It has been hitherto the rule of the Mutual Life, under the advice of its medical examiners, to decline all applicants who give a history of having had syphilis. I do not know when the rule was first established, but it was probably in the early years of the company. This rule has been enforced almost uniformly, and, if there were any exceptions, they were certainly very rare. During this long period, however, our knowledge of the natural history of this disease has been greatly increased by careful and patient observations, and there has been corresponding improvement in the methods of treatment. Consequently, the question has been raised and discussed by medical men, as to whether, with this better knowledge and treatment, the old rule might not be too rigid, and whether it should not be either annulled or at least amended, and whether such exclusion of syphilitics from the benefits of insurance was not injurious to the company and unjust to the applicants. At the present time there is a strong preponderance of medical opinion that a syphilitic history is not to be considered an absolute bar to life insurance. As a matter of practice in the different life insurance companies the rule depends upon the personal experience, judgment, or prejudice of the medical advisers. I have now endeavoured to consider the question fairly and thoroughly, and to review the latest and best opinions of our medical authorities on the whole history of syphilis and its influence on the duration of the lives of those affected by it.
Pressurized intraperitoneal aerosol chemotherapy in nonresectable carcinomatosis from colorectal cancer
