The Rice belt journal. (Welsh, Calcasieu Parish, La.) 1900-19??, 1907-08-23
ARE PHYSICIANS PRESCRIPTIONS
NOSTRUMS?


e between physicians prescriptions, pro,
e prietary medicines and noStrums, it
J, may seem little short of 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 cOnclu-
sion that every medicinal preparation
compounded and dispensed by 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 a nostrum is
"a medicine the composition of which
is kept a secret" Now, when a phvsi.
clan compounds and dispenses with
his own hands remedy for the treat.
ment OF dlseaSe-and it is authorize.
lively stated that probably 60 per
cent. of all physicians prescriptions
IN this country are so dispensed-the
names and quantities of the ingre.
dents which constitute the remedy
are not made known to the patient
Hence, since its composition is kent 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.
scrlption compounded by the average
physician is more than likely to be q
perfect Jumble-replete with thera-
peutlc, physiologic and chemical in.
compatibilities and bearing all the ear.
marks Of pharmaceutical incompe.
Iehoy; for 1t is now generally admitted
mat unless a physician has made 2
special study Of pharmacy and passed {
some time in a drug store for the DUR
'oSe OF gaming a practical knowledge |
d modern Pharmaceutical methods
le IS not fitted to compound remedies 3
or his patients. Moreover, a physi. !
ian VINO compounds his own prescrip. =
IONS not only depriyes the pharmacist II
Il his just emOluments, but he endan. u
ers the lives of patients; for it is .
MY by the detection and elimination -
l errors IN prescriptions by clever, ~
ohpetent prescriptionists that the ~
alety OF the public can be effectualIv e
NEEDED from the criminal blunders d
ignorant physicians. 81
NOR can it be said that the averaqe vi
MUSICIAN IS any more. competent IN "A
emulate a prescription than he is to 81
it. When memorized or di. IL
'ctly copied from book of "fayorite III
descriptions by famous physicians lid
from some textbook or medical III
urnaI' the prescription may be all lei
at 1t should be. 1t is only when the lll'
lySlclan is required to originate q Do
rmuIa on the spur of the moment ma
aI MS lncompetency is distinctly eyi. I'D
nj. Seemingly. however, the phvsi-
ans OF the United States are little
'rse than the average British nhvsi.
IN; Tor we find DR.. James Burnett ;"
'turer on Practical Materia Medica
q Pharmacy, Edinburgh, lamenting
the Medical Magazine the passing
the prescription and bemoaning the e an'
u that seldom does he find a final tn no
n able to devise a prescription 'Ile
IN IN good contracted Latin" ~ w.
and what, it may be asked, is the s sne
tus OF the written prescription-the ~ .
Scrlptlon that is compounded and oao
pensed by the pharmacist-is it. ~
nostrum? 1t may be commended VI
the patient, with the written rn
nula IN his possession, may learn has s
character of the remedy pre- ~ ,
Ded. So, possibly, he might If he bio
erstood Latin and We're a physician us us
pharmacist, but as he usually DOS. u,n.
'es no professional training and to aH
not read Latin, the prescription is ~.
'tically dead secret to him ins
Lhermore, the average prescription cry
20 BADLY written and so greatly ~ '"
'evlated that even the pharmacist, u .a0n
ed as he usually is in deciphering ' n"ns
zeal hieroglyphs, is constantly year
5ed to interview prescribers to was =,
out what actually has been pre. VI
)ed. 1t may also be contended. ~
inasmuch as the formula is known
oth physician and pharmacist the
crlption cannot therefore be a Sc. r.,.
But with equal truth it might be "
ended that the formula of any so.
nostrum is not secret since II ~
own to both proprietor and mann. oor,s
rer; for it must not be forgotten cordi
according to reliable authority. Scrin,
sr cent. OF the proprietors of so. wos
patent medicines prepared in uoro
country have their remedies made tonto,
lem by large, reputable manufac. A mo-
pharmacists. But even should got -
llent be able to recognize the in, ..
OF the ingredients mentioned in hoth
mula ne would only know half notbt,
Tory. 1t is seldom, for instance. able
alcohol Is specifically mentioned knouv
prescription, for it is usually ~ tho
ed IN the form of tinctures and at civ
crhnto % arc great many his ha
substances. 1t is evident, there. is who
nat the ordinary formulated pre. 7 ain,t
ion is to tho avorooo ,o., -,