Mohave County miner., 1915-05-01
Bad Dope Sold as Consump-
 tiOn Cure.

bIuSo ACI, ioiSC iluHipCi ol PiOPoio O tions 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 contain drugs that may at times afford some temporary relief from the distressing symptoms of the disease, but this is all. Since the passage of federal legislation prohibiting the shipment in interstate commerce of medicinal preparations for which false and fraudulent claims are made, there has been marked ten dency to label these preparations "rem- edies" instead of "cures" or "nfall- ible cures" as they used to be called. In many cases, however, they can not even be regarded as remedies.
 A "cherry balsam'', for example, for the "cure" of "co,. sumption" and "hemorrhage of the lungs", which it was represented would "strike at the very root of the disease" was found on analysis to be nothing but a solution in water and alcohol of opium, sugar, benzaldehyde, inorganic salts and color ing 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 separate ly. These were first, the medicine proper, the essential ingredients of which were found to be morphine, cin- mamie acid and arsenic--not very safe mixture to take habitually; second, tonic which was supposed to contain iron but did not; third, a "cough mix ture" made up of alcohol, chloroform, and codeine which is a derivative of opium and morphine; fourth, mixture which contained some quinine, and a solution of water and alcohol; and fifth, codeine tablets. Even the strongest constitution could hardly stand pro- longed course of such treatment.
 In the marketing of such preparations considerable ingenuity is frequently shown. One of the main objects is to persuade the patient that he is receiv- ing, at comparatively low price, the individual attention of trained specia- list. For this purpose, symptom blanks are employed. These contain number of questions about the patients symp- toms, the number varying from dozen or so to as many as 70 or 80. The patient is led to believe that the infor- nation which he furnishes in reply to these questions, will be carefully con- sidered before any medicine is pre- scribed for him, though every physician knows that an accurate diagnosis can- not possibly be made in this way. As a matter of fact none is attempted and the degree of attention which these in dividual reports receive can be meas ured by the fact that cases have come under the observation of the depart ment in which mail order concerns doing business of this kind have received as many as 4,0OO letters day.
 After the patient has submitted his diagnosis report" he is urged to pur- chase supply of the medicine. If he does so, he is then urged to purchase more. If he states that he has ex- perienced 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 pur- chase the medicine it is likely to be offered to him at successively 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$, may be offered at the end of six months for 2.5O$.
 As matter of fact the successful treatment of tuberculosis requires much more than 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 com merce, but the wording may be such as