Show THE PATENT MEDICINE FAD STARTLING FACTS Low Grade Boose Essential Feature Feature Feature Fea Fea- ture of Worthless Remedies It has always been a mystery to hI t hIthe the medical profession why it is that most people have such confidence in inthe inthe inthe the advice of physicians when serious illness comes and their lives are at stake but in regard to patent medicines medicines medicines medi medi- cines do not believe their doctors statements and charge the man with whom they often orten trust their lives as being ignorant of the value of these patent medicines or as being influenced influenced influenced to give false statements concerning concerning concerning con con- these so-called so remedies from personal or mercenary motives As Asa a matter of fact the advice of the medical expert regarding these fake medical edical advertisements is just as accurate ac ac- ac- ac medical curate rate and reliable in this respect as asIf asit asit If it is regarding the treatment of his patient That the medical man does not advise against patent medicines' medicines for fear of losing practice is conclusively conclusively conclusively shown by the counter r facts na namely y- y t th i i me 1 ical m men men are re the greatest advocates of preventive vaccination vaccination vaccination vac vac- for small pox and also for all other modern methods of preventing prevent prevent- preventing ing disease Of all the hundreds of medical men men engaged in original research research research re re- re- re search 95 per cent of them are studying methods of preventing dis dis- dis- dis ease The things that the medical medica men are most opposed to are the lying lying lying ly ly- ing advertisements employed by the patent medicine firms and the false qualities which the latter attribute to their products all the ingredients of ot which are known to the medical pro pro- The Tha healing and medicinal properties of If these compounds have been jeen thoroughly t tested sted and it has been found that a good many of these preparations contain no ingredients that are of any value in medicine while the best majority of them contain contain contain con con- tain drugs that are directly injurious The recent Food and Drug Acts Acts' have succeeded in dealing a deadly blow to the patent medicine concerns Formerly there were no restriction placed upon the statements made inthe inthe in inthe the advertisements of these remedies nor was it necessary to tell the names of the ingredients of which the medicines medicines medicines medi medi- cines were composed The compositions compositions compositions of these remedies must now be printed on the box or bottle and also the amounts of each ingredient used That the statements made in regard to the beneficial qualities of these cures were not due to any ignorance of their true qualities on the part of the manufacturers is easily shown In the U. U S. S the manufacturers manufacturers manufacturers manu manu- were unable or for the most part made no attempt to prove the curative powers of their compounds but immediately changed the wording of their advertisements although they they- still endeavor to convey the impressions impressions impressions left by the old advertisements No restrictions have been placed upon their methods of advertising in England England Eng- Eng land and or in most of the other foreign countries however and the old affirmations affirmations affirmations affirm affirm- are still used upon the shipments shipments shipments ship ship- ments sold there This is Well illustrated ed by the use of the word remedy on the American articles and cure on those sold in England and elsewhere elsewhere elsewhere else else- where abroad They can only go so far as to say in our country that these compounds may have haye some Continued on page 4 THE PATENT MEDICINE MEDICINE F FAD c Continued front froni Page 1 beneficial effect while in Great Britian these same firms still claim that their medicines effect a complete recovery recovery One of the most widely advertised frauds on the market today is fys fy's Pure Malt Whiskey Around each ach bottle is wrapped d a large circular circular circular lar called Annual This annual annual annual an an- nual nual consists largely of tes testimonials of laymen la men and physicians These testimonials and statements assert that this whiskey is a tuberculosis cure the greatest known heart ton tonic c and a preparation that builds uP up the nerve tissues gives strength and elasticity to the muscles and richness to the blood Indeed it is isa isa isa a t typical cure Several analyses of this whiskey have shown results as follows The state chemists of North Dakota Dakota Dakota- testify that this booze is isa isa isa a poor grade of alcohol with syrup added to to give it smoothness and coloring to make it look like whiskey or we may believe the federal chemist chemist chemist chem chem- who declared it simply whiskey of or a very poor quality quality- This analysis shows that Duffy and Co evidently believe that whiskey is the universal remedy for all evils and that it does not even have pave to be good whiskey We Ye must either consider Duffy's Malt patent medicine or a low grade booze Another example of these frauds is Syrup of Figs a laxative whose chief advertising value is its name For years the general public have held the idea that figs possess a very valuable laxative effect and the main of Syrup of Figs have taken advantage of this idea in telling telling telling tell tell- ing the people that the laxative effect of their patent medicine was due to the figs in it Such is not the case The purging effect of this nostrum has been and is due to Senna a drug belonging to the group of vegetable purgatives Now thanks to the Food and Drugs Act the manufacturers are compelled to label every bottle as containing Elixir of Senna Senna Senna Senna Sen Sen- na is prepared from the leaves of a tree growing in India and Africa ana anc ancis anais is a very cheap and easily obtained laxative In fact enough enough of it can be obtained for ten cents to equal t the e medicinal value of ten bottles of Syrup of Figs which retails at 50 cents per bottle Pa yan's Bell is the name of ofa a tablet advertised at the present present present pres pres- ent time whose remarkable supposed effect is to aid immediately all forms of digestion A recent analysis of the constituents of this remarkable compound showed it to be composed of the following baking soda charcoal charcoal charcoal char char- coal and ginger sweetened with saccharin saccharin saccharin sac sac- charin and flavored with oil of wintergreen win- win The remedial properties of this prep preparation ration must consist of some drug present in quantities so minute that a chemical analysis has failed to show them for the reason that none o of the results claimed for this compound could be due to any of the constituents named above The fact that so many hundreds of such drugs are on the market each selling seIling in enormous quantities until replaced by some new panacea shows that much yet remains to be done to strengthen the Food and Drugs Act so so- so-as so as to eliminate falsehood falsehood inferential and direct from direct from drug tion Much has been done and the American people may congratulate themselves on what has been already accomplished It should be borne in mind however that the Food and Drugs Act as it now stands does not prohibit false statement regarding effects at least the Supreme Supreme Supreme Su Su- Su- Su preme Court has so interpreted it More 1 people read the claims made by patent medicine manufacturers in inthe inthe inthe the newspapers than read labels on the bottles after purchasing When truthfulness is required on all patent patent pat ent medicines advertising wherever it may appear a vast number of these preparations will be relegated to the limbo of forgotten frauds o o |