Patent Medicines and the Harm They Are Doing by Alfred B. Olsen, M. D.

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Washington, D. C. · Mar 31, 1904

Patent Medicines and the Harm They Are Doing

By Alfred B. Olsen, M. D.

ALFRED B. OLSEN, M. D.

MR. BARNUM, the great American showman, once said that people liked to be humbugged, and that he was able to oblige them. Though he has gone the way of all flesh, there are still plenty of men left to humbug the people, and not least among these are the unscrupulous nostrum vendors, whose thriving business allows of advertising on a princely scale.

The wide-spread use of unknown drugs and patent pills and powders is simply amazing. The average man or woman will swallow anything, asking no questions, and pay a big price for it, too, provided only it bears the label, “medicine,” and is guaranteed (!) to cure. If it tastes bitter, so much the better. The viler the compound, the more potent it is. Such is the opinion of many persons.

One scarcely stops to consider the composition of the draft or pill, or the competence of the maker. It matters not whether he is entirely ignorant of anatomy and physiology, and knows nothing of the needs of the body, if he only guarantees (!!) a cure on the taking of a certain number of bottles or boxes.

Why such carelessness and neglect of the human machine? Who would take his watch to a shoemaker for repair, or entrust a broken cabinet with a blacksmith? Why are there not many quack medicines for horses and cattle? There are two reasons. First, because such animals are usually cared for in a rational manner, and have better health than mankind; and second, because no sensible man would give his horse quack compounds, but would send for a competent veterinary surgeon. In many respects horses are treated and cared for in a much more wholesome manner than most human beings.

An Age of Humbugs

This is said to be an age of great

intellectual advancement, which is doubtless true to some extent; nevertheless it is a time when frauds and deceptions and all kinds of chicanery flourish as never before. One can scarcely go anywhere without seeing evidences of the enormous quantity of proprietary medicines consumed by the people. The hoardings blaze with the virtues of Smith’s Small Stomach Seeds, or Sally’s Soothing Sirup, or Olden’s Onion Ointment, or some other preparation. You find them on the cover pages of magazines and journals of all kinds. They cover pages in the daily press. The proprietors amass their thousands, yes, and even millions. These advertisements fairly cover the railway stations, and disfigure the country landscape.

The wonderful virtues claimed for each and every compound are marvelous to contemplate. Have you a headache? Peter’s Pepper Pills will cure you. Is it biliousness? Peter’s Pepper Pills are just what you need. Or a pain in the shoulder? Only Peter’s Pepper Pills will give relief. Or palpitation of the heart? A dose of Peter’s Pepper Pills will cure, will put you right at once, or, perhaps you are affected with indigestion, or shortness of breath, or influenza, or constipation. Peter’s Pepper Pills, and nothing else, if taken frequently enough, and in sufficient quantity, and long enough, will put you right. Cure guaranteed!!

Mystery Lends Enchantment

Why is the composition a secret and patented? Why keep it a secret?—Because, if people knew the ingredients of the pills and powders and drafts, they would shun them, and then their fascination and charm would disappear. It is a fact that the mysterious does have an attraction for many people. Mystery is a sort of mental distance that lends enchantment to the medicine. Would that all such preparations were actually at so great a distance as not to be obtainable. Then there would be far more health and happiness in the world.

It is impossible to exaggerate the fraudulent claims made for all kinds of preparations. Some one sends us a rupture cure, an ointment to rub on the skin locally. This is one of the least harmful of all so-called cures, and possibly does little injury, except to deplete the purse of the ignorant victim, and in some cases at least cause him to postpone rational treatments until it is too late, and he pays for his folly with his life. To think that any ointment actually reduces and heals a rupture is too absurd to require refutation.

Large Profits

A recent number of the Lancet contains a warning about a draft which is being put on the market. Concerning the great evil perpetrated in this particular case we quote a few lines as follows: “It may be an alterative, whatever that means, but to say that it is curative is a lie. The ten-shilling box contained forty-eight powders, which at a moderate estimate would cost the vendors one-half pence for bromide of potassium, and nearly one pence for milk-sugar. We do not, however, so much object to the price,—if people are so silly as to buy quack remedies, they must expect to pay for them,—but the heartless swindle is scandalous. To raise false hopes in those whose lot it is to be tied to a drunkard [the drug was claimed to cure drunkenness] is disgraceful, and no punishment can be too bad for the person who profits by such deceit.”

Many of these preparations are more or less poisonous, and consequently dangerous to health. Others are inert substances that neither produce benefit nor injury, and only affect the patient mentally. He thinks he is taking a potent remedy; he imagines he is improving, and forthwith sends a glowing report, which is promptly published, and he has the distinction of getting his name in print. This accounts for some of the testimonials seen in the advertisements. Others, probably the majority, are manufactured to order. Taking medicine soon becomes a habit in most people, and this is easily explained when one remembers that these preparations do not cure, but simply relieve pain by paralyzing the nerves. When the pain disappears, the patient feels better, and imagines that he is being cured. When the effect passes off, the pain and discomfort return; then more medicine is promptly taken, and so it goes on until the patient becomes a slave to the drug, and can only give it up with difficulty. And if he does so, he experiences more pain and disagreeable feelings than at the start.

We often wonder why the religious press is willing, even at any price, to publish these questionable advertisements. Some people think that what is in print must be true, and much more so if in a religious paper. It is sad that our religious publications are so poorly supported that they have to depend to a greater or less extent upon printing disgraceful and scandalous advertisements. This is a great mistake, and ought never to be permitted under any circumstances. We are glad to know that there are some noble exceptions, but unfortunately they are extremely rare.

It hardly needs to be said, in conclusion, that in our opinion one prominent cause of the much-talked-of physical deterioration is this foolish and yet widely prevailing practise of doctoring one’s self by means of proprietary medicines.