The Dawson news. (Dawson, Ga.) 1889-current, 1915-04-13
WORTHLESS REMEDIES
SOLD TO The PUBLIC
CLAIMED AS POSITIVE CURES
FOR TUBERCULOSIS AND
OTHER AILMENTS.
INVESTIGATED BY GOVERNMENT
Scientist Claims That He Found NO
Real Cure Possible From Any OF
the Medicines Examined. Conhd-
ing Patients Are Robbed.

WASHINGTON. D. C.-After in
vestigating under the food and drugs
act large number of preparations
advertised as consumption cures the
department of agriculture has not
been able to discover any that can IN
any sense be regarded as cures Tor
tuberculosis. Some contain drugs
that may at times afford some tenn
porary relief from the distressing
symptoms of the disease, but this is
all. Since the passage of federal leg
isIation prohibiting the shipment IN
interstate commerce of medlclnal
preparations for which false and
fraudulent claims are made there mas
been a marked tendency to lapel
these preparations remedies
A cherry balsam," for example,
for the cure" of consumption and
''hemorrhage of the lungs, which 1t
was represented would strike at the
very root of the disease" was found
on analysis to be nothing but a solu-
tion in water and alcohol of opium,
sugar, benzaldehyde, inorganic salts
and coloring matter. 1t contained
no cherry bark extract or balsam.
A more elaborate cure consisted
of five different preparations which
the credulous patient was to take
separately. These were first, the
medicine proper, the essential 1ngre-
dients of which were found to be
morphine, cinnamic acid and arsenic,
not a very safe mixture to take habit
ually; second, a tonic which was sup
posed to contain iron, but did not;
third a cough mixture" made up
of alcohol, chloroform and codeine,
which is a derivative of opium or
morphine; fourth, mixture which
contained some Quinine, and a solu-
ton of water and alcohol; and fifth,
codeine tablets Even the strongest
constitution could hardly stand pro-
longed course of such treatment
In the marketing sof such prepara-
tions considerable ingenuity is fire.
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 pur-
pose 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 80. The patient is
led to believe that the information
which he furnishes in reply to these
questions will be carefully consider
ed before any medicine is prescribed
for him, though every physician
knows that an accurate diagnosis
cannot possibly be made in this way
AS a matter of fact, none is attempt
ed, and the degree of attention
which these individual reports re-
ceive can be measured by the fact
that cases have come under the OBJ
servatiOn of the department in which
mail order concerns doing business
of this kind have received as many
as 1000 letters day.
After the patient has submitted
his diagnosis report" he is urged
to purchase a supply of the medicine
If he does so he is then urged to pur-
chase some more If he states that
he has experienced no beneficial eff
fects he is told that he has not taken
enough, and this process is likely tc
continue until the limits of his ere
dulity have been reached. If, on the
other hand, he decides at the begin
ming not to purchase the medicine il
is likely to be offered him at success
siveIy lower prices until he is at leas
induced to. believe that he cannot af