Pierre weekly free press. (Pierre, S.D.) 1889-19??, 1907-08-22
ARE PHYSICIANS PRESCRIPTIONS
NosTRUMs7

~
To one not qualified, and few lay
men are, to discriminate intelligently
between physicians prescriptions, pro-
prietary medicines and nostrums, 1t
may seem little short Of crime to-
hint even that physicians prescrip,
lions 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 a physi.
clan is, in the strict sense of the word,
q nostrum, and that the averages
ready-prepared proprietary remedy is
superior to the average specially pre-
pared physicians prescription.
What is a nostrum? According to
the Standard Dictionary a nostrum is
a medicine the composition Of which
Is kept a secret" Now, when physi.
clan compounds and dispenses with
his own hands remedy for the treat
ment Of a disease-and 1t is authorita-
lively stated that probably 60 per
cent. of all physicians prescriptions
in this country are so dispensed-the
dents 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, a Simon
pure ncstrum. Furthermore, the pre-
scription compounded by the average
physician is more than likely to besa
perfect tumble -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 physician has made a
some time in drug store for the pur-
pose of gaining practical knowledge
OF modern pharmaceutical methods,
he is not fitted to compound remedies
for his patients. Moreover, a physi-,
clan who compounds his own prescrip-
lions not only deprives the pharmacist
of his just emoluments, but he endan-
gers the lives of patients; for it 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 it. When memorized or d.
rectly copied from book Of "favorite
| 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
| formula on the spur of the moment
| that his incompetency is distinctly evil
dent. Seemingly, however, the physi-
clans of the United States are little
worse than the average British physi-
clan; for we find DR.. 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"
fAnd what, it may be asked, is the
status of the written prescription-th the
prescription that is compounded and
dispensed by the pharmacists it,
too, nostrum? It 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 g 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 deciphering
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 a secret since it
| is known to both proprietor and manu-
| facturer; for it must not be forgotten
that, according to reliable authority,
955 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
a 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-
| sc.iption is, to the average patient, lit
tie less than a secret remedy or nos
trum.
On the. other hand, the formulate Of