Warren sheaf. [volume] (Warren, Marshall County, Minn.) 1880-current, 1915-04-28
TUBERCULOSIS .REMEDIES"
THAT ARE WORTHLESS
No Real Cure Possible From Any of
the Patent Preparations Investi-
gated by Government Scientist.

Washington, D. c., April 21.-After
Investigating under the Food and
Drugs Act, large number Of prepar-
%ations advertised as consumption
cures, the Department Of Agriculture
has not been able to discover any that
can in any sense be regarded as
<'cures" for tuberculosis. Some con-
tain drugs that may at times afford
some temporary relief, from the dis
,tressing symptoms of the disease, but
this is all. Since the passage of fed
eral legislation prohibiting the ship
ment in interstate commerce of medi-
cinal preparations for which false and
fraudulent claims are made, there has
been a marked tendency to label these.
preparations "remedies" instead Of
sscures" or ''infallible cures" as they
used to be called. In many cases, how
ever. they can not even be regarded as
remedies.
A cherry balsam", for example, for
the 4cure'' of consumption and
ssheanorrhage of the lungs, which it
was represented would "strike at the
very root of the disease" was found
on analysis to be nothing butsa solu-
tion in water and alcohol of opium,
sugar, benzaldehyde, inorganic salts
and coloring matter. It contained no
cherry bark extract or balsam.
A more elaborate "cure" consisted
of FIVE different preparations which
the credulous patient was to take sep
arately. These were first, the medi-
cine proper, the essential ingredients
<of which were found to be morphine,
cinnamic acid and arsenic-not very
safe mixture to take habitually; sec
ond, tonic which was supposed to
contain iron but did not; third, a
.tcough mixture made up of alcohol,
chloroform, and codeine which is
derivative Of opium or morphine;
fourth, a mixture which contained
some quinine, and solution of water
and alcohol; and fifth, codeine tablets.
Even the strongest constitution could
hardly stand a prolonged course of
such a treatment.
- In the marketing of such prepara-
tions considerable ingenuity is fre-
quently shown. One Of the main OBJ
jects is to persuade the patient that
he is receiving, at a comparatively
low price, the Individual attention of a
trained specialist. For this purpose,
symptom blanks are employed. These
contain a number of questions about
the patients symptoms, the number
varying from dozen or so to as
many as 70 or 3d.. The patient is led
to believe that the information which
he furnishes in reply to these ques-,
tions, will be carefully considered. be-
fore any medicine. is prescribed for
him. though every physician knows
that an accurate diagnosis cannot pos
sibly be made il this way. :. AS a,
matter of fact none is attempted and
the degree Of attention which these
individual reports receive can be
measured by the fact that cases have
come under the observation Of the pc
parnnent in which mail order con-
Germs doing business of this kind
have received as many as 1000 letters
day.
After the patient has submitted his
|'diagosis report" he is urged to pur-
chase supply of the medicine. If
he does so, he is then urged to pur-
chase more. If he states that he has
experienced no beneficial effects he Is
told that he has not taken enough,
and this process is likely to continue
until the limits of his credulity have
been reached. If, on the other hand,
he decides at the beginning not to
J purchase the medicine it is likely to
be,offered to him at successfully lower
prices until he is at last induced to be-
lieve that he cannot afford to ignore
such bargain. This is carried to
such an extent that treatment
the original price of which is $25, may
be offered at the end of six months at
$3.50.
AS a mater of fact the successful
treatment Of tuberculosis requires
much more that the mere giving of
medicine and moreover, what will
help one case will not necessarily help
another. Claims that are absolutely
: unwarranted are no longer permitted
on the labels of medicines shipped in
interstate commerce, but the wording
may be such as to convey mislead-
ing impression without the use Of alb
solute statements. Thus these pre-
parations continue to find a sale de-
spite the fact that a little trouble on
the part Of the prospective purchaser
will reveal their worthlessness.
Paint brings dollars" says a far
,ner who tried to sell his old farm i'm
plements and failed. Afterwards he
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