The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1906-12-18
CURE ALL ILLS.
State Board OF Health Over
wheImed by Quacks. i
Want Their NOstrums Adopted
by the Board.
A FALSE IMPRESSION.
Supposed Kansas Is About to
Manufacture Medicine.
Spring Water That Takes Place
of AntitOxin.
l FALSE IMPRESSION.

Quack doctors and patent medicine
fakirs seem to have sized up the kan
sas state board of health as an aggre-
cation Of particularly easy individuals.
Ever since .the state board an
nounced that it would favor the enact
ment of law requiring the state to
manufacture and furnish antitoxin at
cost to residents of the state, the mail
coming to the Kansas department has
been filled with letters from the inven-
tors and discoveries of various patent
nostrumS who want the state of Kan
sas to include their remedy in the list
with antitoxin for state manufacture.
1t is evidently the prevailing impress
sion that the state of Kansas is about
TO establish a gigantic manufacturing
establishment just for the purpose of
grinding out remedies for the benefit
of the people of Kansas Each in
ventor Of patent nostruln believes
that his dope" would be Of just as
much or more benefit to the state than
! antitoxin
one man down in southern Kansas
writes to the board that he has invent
ed cure for diphtheria which has
antitoxtn skinned a mile. Hesays that
his diphtherial cure will get in It's work
after everything else fails. Just give
me the patient with sufficient strength
TO live until my medicine has time to
work. and l can cure him." says this
sanguine quack- There is no possible
harm to come from my medicine Anti
toxin may cause the death of the pa
tient by its effect on the heart, but my
medicine never will do this
Another man from western Kansas
has q sure cure for consumption which
he thinks that the state should manu-
-facture and distribute. free of charge to
every sufferer within the state. He be-
slieves that if the state should just man
tufacture a few barrels of his sure cure,
land pass it around TO all those afflicted
with tubercular trouble, 1t would be en-
tirely unnecessary to establish the pro-
posed state hospital for the care of
consumptives. He figures that it would
only cost the state a few hundred dol
lars to send out his consumption cure,
whereas the hospital VIII cost $3.50 900.
On this one transaction the state would
therefore save enough to buy patent
medicines for all the diseases in the
whole state
Another man has a mineral spring
which he guarantees to cure almost ev-
cry disease from 9gerebro-sDinal men
nights to ingrowinE nails. He wants
to place the water from his mineral
spring on every breakfast table in the
land and thinks the state would make
no mistake in aiding him IN tits lauda-
bic ambitiSn- He figures that the peo-
bills every year enovsN SO pay all the
running expenses OF f1a state But this
proposition would no doubt be stIenu-
ously opposed by the medical profess
sion, which Will demand the right 10
continue IN business. under the 14th
amendment to the constitution Of the
United States.
The peculiar partsabout all these pro-
positions is that the man who submits
the proposition seems to be thoroughly
in earnest and thoroughly convinced
that his remedy would really be great
blessing to the community, if only the
state would take it up and furnish it
free to the people. The question of COM
pensation for the use of the remedy
seems in most cases to be of secondary
consideration The principal thing
remedy which Will really do the bust
ness.