The Miller press. [volume] (Miller, S.D.) 190?-current, 1907-08-22
ARE PHYSICIANS PRESCRIPTIONS
Nos1RuMs?

prietary medicines and nostrums, 1t
may seem little short of a crime to
hint even that physicians prescrip'
tons are In any 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 a physiI
clan compounds and dispenses with
his own hands a 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
names and quantities of the ingre-
dents which constitute the remedy
are not made known to the patient.
Hence, since it's 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 a
perfect j~umble-replete with thera-
peutic, physiologic and chemical in
compatibilities and bearing all the a
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 a 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, a physi-
clan who compounds his own prescrip-
tons 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,
SohlpClChL lCoSlipllOLio IhdI NV
safety Of the public a be effectually
shielded from the criminal blunders
of ignorant physicians.
Nor a 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 a book of '~favorite
prescriptions by famous physicians"
or from some textbook or medical
journal, the prescription may be all
that 1t 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 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 Pharmacists 1t,
too, a nostrum? 1t may be commended
that the patient, with the written
formula in his possession, may learn
the character Of the remedy pre-
scribed. So, possibly, he might II 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 q dead secret to him.
Furthermore, the average prescription
is So badly written and SO greatly
abbreviated that v 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 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-
f~acturer; 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
m 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 1t 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 a secret remedy or nos
trum.
On the other hand, the formulate OF
nearly all the proprietary medicines
that are exploited exclusively to the
medical profession as well as those
of a large percentage Of the proDrie-
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
a. ~Nr, r0o,;roI D. haya the