The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1916-07-31
activities of the putocracy carried through their kept newspapers, magazines, orators and professors
Warns Public Against Fraudulent Infantile
 Paralysis "Cures"

Officials of the Department of Agri- culture charged with the enforcement of the Food and Drugs Act expect that the outbreak of infantile paraly- sis will tempt unscruplous persons to offer for sale so-called "cures'' or remedies for this dread malady. They, therefore, have issued special instruc- tions to the Food and Drug inspec- tors to be particularly alert for inter- state shipments or importations of medicines, the makers of which allege that they will cure or alleviate this disease, for which, at the present time, no medicinal cure is known. The of- ficials also warn the public that any preparation put on the market and offered for sale as being effective for the treatment of infantile paralysis should be looked upon with extreme suspicion. Inspectors, accordingly,
 have been instructed to regard as sus- picious, and to collect samples of, all medicines in interstate commerce for
 which such claims are made. Makers of such fraudulent remedies will be
 vigorously prosecuted whenever the evidence warrants action under the
 Sherley Amendment to the Food and Drugs Act. So-called. remedies for infantile paralysis which are offered for import into the country will be denied entry. The Food and Drugs officials are
 particularly watchful in this instance because it has been noted in the past that whenever a serious epidemic ex- ists, unscruplous dealers prey upon the fear or ignorance of the public by flooding the market with worthless, hastily prepared connections. for which they assert curative properties which have no foundation whatever in
 fact. In the present instance, inspec- tors already have discovered ship ments of a few such mixtures.
 The Department will do everything l it can under Federal law to protect that portion of the public which is extremely credulous in times of panic and which will grasp at anything which promises protection. or relief. | The sale of such products at this time, the officials point out, is parti- ! cularly threatening to the public health because many persons, relying on the false statements of imposters, neglect to secure competent medical | advice. As a result, not only is the
 safety of the patient endangered, but
 in the absence of proper sanitary pre-
 cautions, the likelihood of contagion is greatly increased.
 It must be understood, however, that
 the Federal Food and Drugs Act ap- plies only to products which are ship ped in interstate commerce, that is, | from one State to another, or which
 are offeed for import or export, or
 which are manufactured or sold with
 in a territory or the District of Colum-
 bia Products which are made and
 consumed wholly within a single state
 are subject only such state laws as
 may apply and are under the con-
 trol only of state health officials. The Federal law does not apply, for in
 stance, to patent medicines made with
 fin the state of New Y ork and sold ir
 New York city. Persons buying oi I using remedy made in their owr i state, therefore. must rely on the pro. lection accorded them by their loca health authorities.