Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 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 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 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 a nostrum is
"a medicine the composition of which
Is kept a secret" Now, when a physi-
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 go 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 iumble-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 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 1t is
only by the detection and elimination
Of errors in prescriptions by clever
competent pr%escriptionists that the
safety of the public a be effectually
shielded from the criminal blunders
of ignorant physicians.
Nor can it be said that the average
physician is any more competent tc
formulate a prescription than he is tc
compound it. When memorized or di
rectly copied from a book of "favorite
prescriptions by famous physicians
or from some textbook or medica
journal, the prescription may be al
that it should be. 1t is only when the
physician is required to originate {
formula on the spur of the momen'
that his incompetency is distinctly evi
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 Medics
and Pharmacy, Edinburgh, lamentins
in the Medical Magazine the passing
Of the prescription and bemoaning thu
fact that seldom does he find a "fina
man" able to devise a prescription
even in good contracted Latin"
And what, it may be asked, Is thu
status of the written prescription-th'
prescription that is compounded ant
dispensed by the Pharmacists 1t
too, a nostrum? 1t may be contendeC
that the patient, with the. writer
formula in his possession, may learl
the character of the remedy pre-
scribed. So, possibly, he might If HI
understood Latin and were a physician
or a pharmacist, but as he usually pos
sesses no professional training ant
cannot read Latin, the prescription Il
practically a dead secret to him
Furthermore, the average prescription
is so badly written and so great.
abbreviated that even the pharmacist
skilled as he usually is in decipherinI
medical hieroglyphs, is constant,
obliged to interview prescribers t.
find out what actually has been pre-
scribed. 1t may also be c~ontended
that inasmuch as the formula is know
to both physician and pharmacist tn
prescription cannot therefore be a sc
cret. But with equal truth it might b
contended that the formula of any sc
called nostrum is not a secret since
is known to both proprietor and mani
facturer; for it must not be forgotte
that, according to reliable authority
95 per cent, Of the proprietors of 81
called patent medicines prepared,
this country have their remedies mad
for them by large, reputable manufa'
turing pharmacists. But even Shout
q patient be. able to recognize tn
names of the ingredients mentioned !
a formula he would only know ha
the story. 1t is seldom, for instanc'
that alcohol is specifically mentione
in a prescription, for it is usual
masked in the form Of tinctures an
fluid extracts, as are a great man
other substances. 1t is evident, Their
fore, that the ordinary formulated pr
scription Is, to the average patient, II
tie less than a secret remedy or no
, trum.
S On the other hand, the formulate
nearly all the proprietary medicine
r that are exploited exclusively to tn