The Meridian times. (Meridian, Idaho) 1909-1938, 1914-11-13
DEFENDS POPULAR REMEDIES
Speaker Says Newspapers Should In
vestigate Merits of Medicines Be-
fore Barring Advertisements.

That an organized attempt has been
made to blacken the reputation OF the
popular family remedies of this coun-
try, and to mislead the newspaper
publishers into rejecting the adyer-
Using of such medicines, was the
charge made by Carl ]. Balliett, OF
Buffalo, N Y, at the convention OF the
Advertising Affiliation at Detroit.
Mr. Balliett is director of the Pro-
prietary Association of America, which
includes in its membership two hun
dred firms which make the popular
prepared medicines of America.
Mr. Balliett pointed out that 1t is
the duty of the newspaper publisher
TO refuse the advertising of any fake
or fraudulent medicine, just as 1t IS
his duty to refuse any fake or fraudu-
| lent advertising, but it is not right to
| shut down on all medical advertising |
because there have been some takers, |
any more than it would be right to
refuse to publish all department store
advertising because certain stores |
| have made a practice of lying about
bargain sales.
Disease and death are mysteries.
tPeople who are perfectly wen are
skeptical They laugh at the time
worn patent medicine joke, just as
they laugh again and again over the
many variations of the operation joke
THE operation was a success but
the patient died." This so-called hui
NOR has perhaps hurt the medicine
business with well people, but when
the hitherto healthy man feels a Sc
we're pain or illness, he Immediately
wants medicine, and will bless the
cure whether it be at the hands OF
.egular doctor, homeopath, an osteo-
path, Christian Scientist or patent
medicine. There is nothing more
deadly than disease: nothing more
honorable than to cure it.
: Mr.. Balliett refuted the idea sought
to be spread about that patent medl-
cines are unpopular by showing that
from 1900 to 1912 the amount of pre-
pared medicines consumed in America
increased from $100,000000 to $780,
! 600 900 annually. He showed that, al
though the American Medical Associ-
: alton is trying as an organization to
!. exterminate- so-called patent medi-
r cines, the family doctor, individually
Q is not fighting them but prescribing
them. He estimated that 400 of the
prescriptions written by doctors today
include proprietary medicines.
n The writings of DR.. Harvey w. Wi
g ley, he said, have also aimed to de
4, stroy confidence in proprietary medi
n cines: but that DR. Wiley's ideas are
a. not infallible is shown by cases where
II his analyses were entirely wrong. Mr.
al Balliett mentioned case where, will
a. all the power of the Government, M
e. fought a preparation as being danger
T. GUS to health, and was ingloriousl!
N walloped.
E. There has been spread the idea tina
'e a clever faker can mix few useless
10 ingredients and, by smart advertising
sell tons of it and win sudden wealth
whereas, as matter of fact, the med
"a cine business is VIGOROUSLY difficult
in and. where there has been one success
40 at II. there have been hundred fai
40 ures. Any medicine which has n
~. merit CdunOl AANCs bONaAoO PNASS--
tn who are duped into buying it once wi
RI not buy it again, and the profit fror
d. advertising a medicine can only com
from repeat sales to the same. salts
fed people. Therefore, any medicin
he which has been on the market for
&c number of years. and is still adyel
of tised, must have merit behind it to az
es count for its success.
ce In conclusion Mr.. Balliett declare
that no newspaper is doing justice
its readers in the matter of medics
or other advertising, unless it invest
as gates, not only the wording of the az
ue vertisement offered for publication
'OV but the merits of the article adve
In tised. He pointed out that the fe'
est newspapers who have been delude
into the policy of barring out medic'
advertising have adopted this gener;
policy, rather than to form an inve
ar tigation bureau of this kind whic
IA could in a constructive and useful e
re- fort. investigate and decide what
me good product and what is frau
nst In not only the medicine business, bl