Iowa state bystander. [volume] (Des Moines, Iowa) 1894-1916, 1907-09-27
PROPRIETARY REMEDIES Is !
PHYSICIANS PRESCRIPTIONS
e,,.i.tIcs Show, Of the Deaths tot ~.
MIsuss Of Drugs In TWO Years on's
Three Per Gent. Were que g go
Medicines, According 70 r'su's'
....a on Medical Certifieates'

AL Vi
M.slelres, According to Figures
a,..a on Medical Certificates
Tho nrcss committee Of the Proprie
,.rv Association OF America VIII pre-
rent at the next meeting OF tnat cou ~;
rsnort showing the number OF acci
Dental deaths caused by patent medi
c,nea IN the two years ending June oo
1oo7 AZ compared with deaths 1rom
Almost Immediately after the begin
,,ng Of the latest crusade against
nronrietary medicines this commitlee
was instructed to collect data. lhis
work was done through the. cIpplns
bureaus. which furnished accounts q
az deaths. exclusive Of suicide, Que %
the misuse of medicines, drugs OF
nelson's. The result showed that only
sbree per cent. could be traced a.
rectly to the products made oy tho
members of the association.
The greatest care is said to nave
been exercised in tabulating the ne
ures received. Whenever the cause
Of death was doubtful, special inves
tigation was made, no matter "nere
the case might have occurred. Inc
york of asserting and preparing the
record was done in Chicago, and the
original clippings and correspondence
are in the possession OF Erwin +.
Kemp, 1874 La Sale street, that city.
the associaticn's publicity agent. Inc
report says, in part: .....
"A large number Of accidents, re
sulting fatally or otherwise, were
caused by the carelessness OF persons
who left drugs, medicines or poisons
within the reach of children. A large
number, also, were caused by persons
going to medicine cabinets in the darn
and taking down the wrong bottle
In no case reported was any medicine
patent or otherwise, held responsible
for injury or death except when Ter
within the reach of children or taken
" administered in gross overdose
The committee says that it is un
likely that any cases Of death from
he use of patent medicine escaped
he newspapers, but that it is prob
able that death from the causes tabu
ated did occur without receiving pub
lefty. Physicians, Of course, report
he cacses of death. The committee
says that they would be the last to
suppress the cause if due to the use
If medicine not regularly prescribed
A recapitulation of the committees
findings show 1926 cases of poisoning
If which 1853 were fatal. The great
,st number of cases, 1885, with sos
ieaths, is attributed to medicines
other than proprietary remedies
There are on the list 80 cases Of sick
ness and 10 deaths due to patent medi
cines.
Analysing its statistics. the commit
zee finds POI cases of sickness, will
l4S deaths, due to strychnine tablets
which are among physicians favorite
remedies and are often left within th.
reach Of children. s@
Under the head OF miscellaneous
prescriptions are grouped A cases
where. the report says, it has been i'm
possible after diligent inquiry to az
certain the name or the character OF
the drug or medicine which caused in
Jury or death, beyond the fact that
the medicine or drug was prescribed
BY a physician. OF these cases Is
we're fatal. The committee says:
Under the head of All Patent
Medicines are grouped all those rem
edies which are recognized as patent
medicines and which are advertised
direct to the public for internal use,
Competent authorities say that at
'east one-half of the medicines taken
N the United States are of the kind
known as patent medicine and vet
IN two years among SO,o0O,O oe peopl.
there have been but ninety case,
tforty-three fataD that have been re-
ported in the newspapers from tn.
use or misuse of these remedies"
Not in a single fully suDstantiatet
s<aSC 10 ~ CfCl SAa1 5So IAAS 0Ay pAs
.nt medicine in recommended doscs
vas injurious. In this connection l,
should be understood that in making
death certificates and in reporting
cases Of injury to the newspapers
from which these cases were secured
a physician had the final word, and
In this connection is there any prob
ability that the doctor will hide his
own carelessness or neglect or that Of
fellow practitioner whose support
he may want at some time, and /:
there even possibility that he nigh;
hide any responsibility that could b.
thrown at patent medicine? Ash
yourself these questions. Then wheI
you have found the answer, consider
that during all this most thorough
and carefu. investigation covering /,
! period of two years, in not singl,
established case, was it shown tina
patent medicine in recommended
doses was injurious.
The most remarkable case reported
was that of an Italian laborer in New
York who suffered from pains in tn,
chest. A physician ordered a porous
plaster which the patient ate, will
tatsi results. .,s ...,@,.. ,s-.
Mac a.. -