New-York tribune., 1907-09-01


show the cases In which the deaths were either
extraordinarily large or from an odd cause. Inc
committee has sixteen instances to which II cans
this special attention The notatons are as iolo"S'
Note / strychnine tablets are favorite remedy
many cases and, according TO the newspaper @ @Cl.p
frequently left within the reach Of children and not
nrequeny taken in oyerdoses by with i6
label stating the quantity OF strychniHe COM 4i'7'1
Note 2 WOOD alcohol is recognized a vtrpegt ,
oson and has no Place re in Tsdorde we're %
by its use beverage OF l6o cases 10 5a %eLG nes
are grouped all Of those remedies which are rec
ognized patent medicines and which are o1Spa 80
med,ciGes taken in the United States are OF the
Kind known as patent medicine" and yet IN a t~o
years among eighty million pe@PtSe t'g 5ave been re-
00Tted in The newspap pers from the use or misuse
Of these reedies Ays6 6' Charged ~ that any patent
ne5clne in recommended doses was INJURIOUS 3h. ~ ~
Making death certificates and In reporting cases oI
injury to the newspapers p @ the ana word and
vyhiIe there is possibility that the doctPr , n" ~
hide mis- own carelessness or neglect or that o. ha
fellow practitioner there is no poss blllty tAr ,S m
might hide any responsibility that ulght Ies' W."
Not or the seventy ot paris green p9tsd
%5Hg; % @s of thirty-e!gh laborers who drank water
from a barrel containing ni.d .ra Iahor-
poison for spraying cabbage NOM %
Note a. s There were thrtysv cases Of roach iHa
nosoninr eight OF which proved fatal Ihese ISo w.
caused by the OF baker who use ,IIs P'''
inSsa OF rndaT GapSt the Be" head OF miscellaneous
scrptons grouped thirty-tos& ro@ ~IT " ssoer
tain name or The eharaeseT M oah ot ' ivond the
fact that the medicine or drug was preS0''1 ~
Ty6fe This item is the record Of wholesale
poisoning in an orphanage at Burlington W. dron'
an unk2oTn y51.c catse rssn,ttd pf fataIly.
Note Of the foul teen cases resulting from the
y mistake administered internally oy mistake or
Note 9 Anegthetics in thirteen cases s5t 1ausea
twelve deaths In each instance It was admins
Note 10 fen eases. OF hay rum poisoning we're
found. of which each Iesulted fatally The same
as Gf ZEN cases Of poisoning from the use OF
ooiates. eight proved fatal. The opiate in each
case was prescribed by a physician.
st56 "a fatally from the use Of headache powders
rerorted n the two years duTIng Waich tals MS
cure env information concerning these or TO
learn whether the headache powders were rem
edies advertised 70 the public sold by druggists
or prescribed by physicians; . -,...,-. -, ,.z
oil and used for & salad dressing with injury
10 ye In two cases preparations for the treat
rnent of corns taken internally. resulting IA
tally in one case
The sixteenth note was OF the death OF child
which had eaten poutice that had been used on
a vrulent
But the most peculiar of all the cases reported
Is that mentioned IN the last the seventeenth note.
An Italian Iaborer was suffering from pains in
the chest and general debility. He called ply
sician who prescribed a porous plaster. He
deayored tc explain its use 10 the patient, and
thought that ne had been successful. The laborer
.ook the plaster TO his home ate Il. Not hav-
ing the stomach of a goat. he died IN great agony.
The case reported from New York City.
The committee expresses itself well satisfied
with the result of It's laborious research 1t
much surprised that the percentage of deaths
should be as low three, believing that misuse of
patent medicines would naturally be more fire.
uuent The committee did not investigate the gen
eral effect of continued use of proprietary medi-