Free press. [volume] (Hays, Kan.) 1888-1908, 1907-08-24
ARE PHYSICIANS PRESCRIPTIONS
EosTRuMS7

may seem little snort or a crime to
hint even that physicians prescrip-
tons are in any manner related to
nostrums; nevertheless, an impartial
examination of all the facts in the
case leads irresistibly to the conelu-
sion that every medicinal preparation
compounded and dispensed by a physi-
clan is in the strict sense of the word,
a 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-a secret" Now, when a physi-
clan compounds and dispenses with
his own hands remedy for the treat
nent of a disease-and it is authorita-
lively stated that probably 60 per
cent. CT all physicians prescriptions
in this country are so dispeRsed-the
names and quantities of the ingre-
dents which constitute the remedy
are not made known to the patient.
Hence, since its composition is kept a
secret by the physician, the remedy or
prescription is unquestionably, in the
true meaning of the word, a 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 a
special study OF pharmacy and passed
some time in q drug store for the pur-
pose of gaining a practical knowledge
of modern pharmaceutical methods,
he is not fitted 10 compound remedies
for his patients. Moreover, a physi-
-cian who compounds his own prescrip-
tions not only depriYes 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 di-
rect1y copied from a 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
| 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 a 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 pharmacist-is it,
too, 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 a pharmacist, but as he usually pos
sesses no professional training and
| cannot read Latin, the prescription is
| practically a 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 inasmHch as the formula is known
to both physician and pharmacist the
| prescription cannot therefore be a 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,
! So 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
formula he would only know half
the story 1t is seldom. for instance,
that alcohol is specifically mentioned
in prescription, for it IS usually
masked in the form of tinctures and
fluid extracts, as are great many
other substances. It is evident, there
fore, that the ordinary formulated pre-
seription is, to the average patient, lit
! tie less than a secret remedy cor 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 a large percentage of the proprie-
tary remedies that are advertised to
| the public 1.-THE so-called patent medi-