News and citizen. [volume] (Morrisville, Vt. ;) 1881-current, 1905-03-29

Patent medicines are friends of nv
youth. and friends of nv family. They
have helped me when | needed help
and if they need help now | feel like
defending them. 1t is only fair reel
procity.
The fact is that the term "patent
medicines, " as applied to advertised
remedies, is misnomer. Very few Of
the remedies advertised to the laity
are patented. The real patented
medicines are advertised to physi
clans alone. They are brought into
use almostsolely through physicians
prescriptions.
Practically all the synthetic chemi
calsIproduced in late years are pro.
tected by patents. The most valu
able products used by modern ply.
sicians are patented. The coal tar
preparations which are most widely
used, and the most effective germi.
cides, are among them. All physicians
prescl ibe these remedies, yet they
know that their owners control 9
monopoly.
The largest pharmaceutical houses
are not those which make remedies
advertised in the newspapers. They
make the remedies which are adver
tised to physicians alone, and they
control those remedies absolutely by
a patent or trademark. If the medi
cal profession ceased to use these pat
ented remedies, half the prescriptions
which are written would need to bt
altered.
This does not bear out Mr.. Bok's
theory that the discoverer of rem
edy of real value gives it freely to thu
world. The custom with those who
invent such remedies today is to pat
ent them and control them, lust al
does the man who invents new ma
chine. And the medical profession
recognize and approve the method
for every modern physician prescribel
patented remedies more frequently
than any others. And enormous en-
terprises are built solely on this fact
The mere fact therefore, that G
man controls a remedy, either by 6
patent or trademark, does not ar
que against it. 1t is rather evidenc,
that the man has something which
he considers worth controlling.
If the man, in addition, spends
large sums in advertising, whether tt
physicians or to the laity, it forms
to me further evidence Of value. Moth
ing is more certain than the fact that
a worthless article cannot be adver
tised profitably.
Those who know advertising know
that the cost of selling bottle OF
package to a new user Is severa
times the profit made on 1t. The only
hope of profit comes through contin
ued use; and, without merit, contin
ued use cannot be expected. When 6
man has made a success in advertis
ing medicine. it is to me the best
evidence possible that he has some
thing good.
A physician may put up a prescrip
ton for some individual case with
out giving much thought to it. But
If that physician is going to spend 6
fortune on advertising, with no pos
sibility of getting his money back I'M
less he satisfies millions of users, ht
is naturally going to pct up the best
prescription he can make. If he is
wise he will get the best prescriptions
for his purpose that any man car
make.
Then there is the question of alco
hol which Mr.. Box seems to consider
such a perilous one. All the fluid ex
tracts and tinctures used in medicine
must employ alcohol as a solvent
and preventative. Prohibit a physi,
clan from using alcohol in his pre-.
scriptions and you would make the
practice of medicine impossible. If a
physician must use alconol in certain
prescriptions, shall we complain that
a ready made medicine employs it for