The Springfield herald., 1907-08-23
ARE PHYSICIANS PRESCRIPTIONS
NOSTRUMS7

may seem little short of crime to
hint even that physicians prescrip-
tions are in any manner related to
nostrums; nevertheless. an impartial
examination OF all the facts in the
case leads irresistibly to the conclu-
sion that every medicinal preparation
compounded and dispensed by physi-
clan is, in the strict sense of the word,
nostrum, and that the average,
ready-prepared proprietary remedy is
superior to the average specially-pre-
pared physicians prescription.
What is a nostrum? According to
the Standard Dictionary nostrum is
"a medicine the composition of which
is kept secret" Now, when physi-
clan compounds and dispenses with
his own hands a remedy for the treat
ment of disease-and it is authorita-
lively stated that probably 60 per
cent. of all physicians prescriptions
In this country are SO dispensed-the
names and quantities of the ingre-
dients which constitute the remedy
are not made known to the patient.
Hence, since its composition Is kept
secret by the physician. the remedy or
prescription is unquestionably. in the
true meaning of the word, Simon
pure nostrum. Furthermore. the pre-
scription compounded by the average
physician is more than likely to be
perfect jumble-replete with thera-
peutic physiologic and chemical in
compatibilities and bearing all the ear
marks of pharmaceutical incompe-
tency; for it is now generally admitted
that unless a physician has made
special study of pharmacy and passed
some time in drug store for the pur-
pose of gaining a practical knowledge
OF modern pharmaceutical methods,
he is not fitted to compound remedies
for his patients. Moreover, physi-
clan who compounds his own prescrip-
tions not only deprives the pharmacist
of his just emoluments, but he endan-
gers the lives Of patients; for 1t is
only by the detection and elimination
of errors in prescriptions by clever,
competent prescriptionists that the
safety of the public can be effectually
| shielded from the criminal blunders
| of ignorant physicians.
Nor can it be said that the average
physician is any more competent to
formulate a prescription than he is to
compound 1t. When memorized or di-
rectly copied from book of "favorte
prescriptions by famous physicians"
| or from some textbook or medical
| journal, the prescription may be all
| that it should be. 1t is only when the
| physician is required to originate a
nf
that his incompetency is distinctly evi-
dent. Seemingly, however, the physi-
clans of the United States are little
worse than the average British physi-
| clan; for we find DIR. James Burnett,
lecturer on Practical Materia Medica
and Pharmacy, Edinburgh, lamenting
| in the Medical Magazine the passing
| of the prescription and bemoaning the
| fact that seldom does he find final
| man. able to devise a prescription
even in good contracted Latin"
And what, it may be asked, is the
status of the written prescription-the
prescription that is compounded and
dispensed by the pharmacists it.
| too, a nostrum? 1t may be contended
that the patient, with the written
formula in his possession, may learn
the character of the remedy pre-
scribed. So. possibly, he might If he
| understood Latin and were a physician
or pharmacist, but as he usually pos
sesses no professional training and
cannot read Latin, the prescription is
practically dead secret to him.
Furthermore, the average prescription
is so badly written and so greatly
abbreviated that even the pharmacist,
skilled as he usually is in decipherinS
medical hieroglyphs, is constantly
obliged to interview prescribers to
find out what actually has been pre-
scribed 1t may also be contended,
that inasmuch as the formula is known
to both physician and pharmacist the
prescription cannot therefore be Sc
cret But with equal truth it might be
contended that the formula of any So
called nostrum is not secret since it
is known to both proprietor and manu-
facturer; for it must not be forgotten
that, according to reliable authority,
95 per cent. of the proprietors of So
called patent medicines prepared In
this country have their remedies made
for them by large, reputable manufac-
turing pharmacists. But even should
patient be able to recognize the
names of the ingredients mentioned in
a formula he would only know half
the story. 1t is seldom, for instance.
that alcohol is specifically mentioned
in a prescription, for it is usually
masked in the form of tinctures and
fluid extracts, as are a great many
other substances. 1t is evident, there
fore, that the ordinary formulated pre-
scription is, to the average patient, lit
tie less than secret remedy or nos
trum.
On the other hand, the formulae OF
nearly all the proprietary medicines
that are exploited exclusively to the
medical profession as well as those
of large percentage of the proprie-
tary remedies that are advertised to
the public (the so-called patent medi-
cines) are published in full. Under
the Food and Drugs Act, every medi-
cinal preparation entering interstate
commerce is now required to have the
proportion or quantity of alcohol.
opium, cocain and other habit-form-