The Propaganda for Reform in Proprietary Medicines, Vol. 1 of 2Council on Pharmacy and Chemistry (American Medical Association)
Science
The Propaganda for Reform in Proprietary Medicines, Vol. 1 of 2
Council on Pharmacy and Chemistry (American Medical Association)
Patent medicines
The report of the subcommittee was adopted by the Council, and in
accordance with the recommendation is published herewith.
W. A. Puckner, Secretary.
In commenting on the above report it is hardly necessary to call
attention to the palpable untruthfulness of the furnished formula or
its lack of correspondence to the real composition of the preparation,
to the imposing claims made by its pseudo-scientific exploiters or
the absurdities, from a chemical standpoint, of the statements made
in their literature. These features are more or less common to all
nostrums. The physician who prescribes or uses Oxychlorine under
the impression that he is getting a definite and unique chemical
compound described as tetraborate of sodium and potassium combined
with oxychlorid of boron is, according to our chemists, getting simply
a mixture of potassium chlorate, sodium nitrate (or, perhaps, sodium
chlorate and potassium nitrate), and boric acid in about equal amounts.
More than one-third of this mixture is potassium (or sodium) chlorate,
drugs by no means harmless.
In order that there may be no suspicion of unfairness to the promoters
of the preparation, we quote from one of the advertising circulars sent
out by the Oxychlorine Company:
“Oxychlorine owes its recognition as a therapeutic agent to its six
principal qualities:
“1. It will oxygenate the blood at the seat of application,
maintain nutrition and heal an uninfected solution of continuity of
first intention without scar formation.
“2. It will disorganize all pus and ferment-producing
micro-organisms, their toxins, ferments and ptomains.
“3. It will restore an inflamed mucous membrane to its normal
condition, except where the membrane is sclerosed or atrophied.
“4. It will destroy pathogenic micro-organisms and their toxins in
the blood current.
“5. It will stimulate the blood to absorb more oxygen in the lungs
than it at the time carries. [We do not know what this means;
perhaps the Oxychlorine Company does.]
“6. It is absolutely harmless to the tissues and will not destroy a
living cell.”
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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