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 foregoing citations show conclusively that Digalen is not
of uniform activity. When _reliability_ is claimed for Digalen
in contrast to the known variability of digitalis, it must be
considered as tantamount to the claim that Digalen is not subject
to such variability and it must be held that the manufacturers make
misleading statements when they assert that Digalen is absolutely
reliable.
The manufacturers claim that Digalen does not produce gastric
disturbances (see advertisement cited).
It is quite true that when small doses of Digalen are used
therapeutically it fails to produce gastric disturbances because it
is of such slight activity, as previously stated, but when it is used
in amounts which correspond in activity to such doses of the ordinary
galenical preparations of digitalis as commonly cause nausea and
vomiting it does cause gastric disturbances quite as readily as the
latter.
Among the clinicians who have found that Digalen causes gastric
disturbances may be cited: Veiel,[34] Mueller,[35] Eichhorst[36] and
Teichmann.[37]
[34] Veiel: München. med. Wchnschr., 1906, liii, 2140.
[35] Mueller: München. med. Wchnschr., 1909, lvi, 904.
[36] Eichhorst: Deutsch. med. Wchnschr., 1905, xxxi, 49.
[37] Teichmann: Therap. d. Gegenw., 1907, xlviii, 199.
Eggleston and Hatcher[38] compared the emetic and cardiac activity
of Digalen and numerous other digitalis bodies and preparations and
found that the emetic activity of Digalen was decidedly greater in
proportion to its cardiac (or therapeutic) action than was that of
digitalis or digitoxin.
[38] Eggleston, Cary, and Hatcher, Robert, A.: The Emetic Action of
the Digitalis Bodies, The Journal A. M. A., Feb. 15, 1913, p. 499.
In the absence of any evidence to controvert this clinical and
experimental evidence, the continued claim that Digalen does not
disturb the stomach must be looked on as deliberate misrepresentation.
MISLEADING THERAPEUTIC CLAIMS
The recommendation that Digalen be dismissed from N. N. R. is made
with the full appreciation of the fact that the manufacturers of
Digalen and their agents have repeatedly stated that they desired to
comply with the rules of the Council, and that they have withdrawn
several statements to which the Council has taken exception, but
the fact remains that despite these reiterations the advertisements
of Digalen continue to embody statements which the Council can only
consider misleading.
The Council believes that the following advertisements constitute
gross therapeutic exaggerations:
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account