English to Italian Medical Poetry & Literature manicomi nel Settecento

These boarding homes also served as convenient dumping grounds for relatives who were simply annoying or unwanted. Men could get free from their wives in this manner—had not their noisome, bothersome spouses gone quite daft in the head? A physician who would attest to this fact could earn a nice sum—a fee for the consultation
and a referral fee from the madhouse owner. [...]
Even though most of the mad and *not-so-mad* committed to the private madhouses came from better families, they could still expect neglect and the harsh flicker of the whip.

Avevo fatto una traduzione più o meno letterale, il revisore mi chiede di modificarla.