MIDOL AND NURITO

Pyramidon Entering the Patent-Medicine Field

Repeated warnings to the public of the dangers of acetanilid, antipyrin and acetphenetidin and the requirement in the Food and Drugs Act which makes it obligatory to declare the presence of acetanilid and acetphenetidin on the labels of “patent medicines,” have been responsible for the growing unpopularity of nostrums containing these drugs.

MIDOL

During the past few months advertisements have appeared in the newspapers of a new “headache cure,” the advertising slogan of which is that it “contains no acetanilid or phenacetin.”

The name of this preparation is Midol and it is sold under the following claims:

“Instantly relieves headache, neuralgia, toothache.”

“Has no depressing effect.”

“More effective than antipyrin, acetanilid, phenacetin or similar pain-relieving products.”

“Midol is the one safe-to-take aid of sufferers of headache.”

“Quickly relieves pain of whatever nature.”

“There is no cumulative action.”

“No bad effect upon the heart or other organs.”

An original package of Midol was purchased and examined in the Association laboratory. The chemists’ report follows:

“Midol is sold in the form of white tablets each weighing, on an average, 0.425 gm. or about six and one-half grains. The tablets are soluble in water, chloroform or benzene to the extent of about 80 per cent. The soluble portion appeared to be largely composed of starch, with about 4.5 per cent. of some inorganic matter, probably talc. The chloroform soluble portion was found to consist chiefly of pyramidon, chemically known as dimethyl-dimethylamino-pyrazolon. Besides pyramidon, the chloroform soluble matter contained a small quantity of caffein and may have contained small amounts of other substances.

“From examination it is concluded that Midol depends essentially on pyramidon for its therapeutic effect.”

Pyramidon is a proprietary preparation derived from, and having the antipyretic and anodyne properties of, antipyrin. While some observers have asserted that it is more likely to cause collapse than are either antipyrin or acetphenetidin there is no positive evidence of this assertion. That the use of pyramidon has been until recently practically restricted to physicians may account for the fact that its toxic effects are not as well known as are those of antipyrin, acetphenetidin, acetanilid, etc., which for some years have been indiscriminately used by the public. As the use of pyramidon as a “patent medicine” now bids fair to become as general as the better known antipyretics, it is probable that its toxicology will become better known.

It is interesting to note that pyramidon in the form of Midol is put on the American market by the General Drug Company, which also acts as a distributor of salvarsan (“606”). The General Drug Company is said to have for its president, W. M. Hoge, who was formerly employed in the comptroller’s office during the administration of Herman A. Metz, and the latter being employed by the Consolidated Color and Chemical Works and being president of Victor Koechl & Co. The General Drug Company, in its price list to physicians, lists the “ethical proprietary” pyramidon, but contains no mention of its “patent medicine” Midol.

NURITO

Midol is not the only “patent medicine” in which pyramidon is the essential drug. Nurito, which is advertised as “not a patent medicine but a proprietary preparation,” is a nostrum put on the market by the Magistral Chemical Co., New York. Here are some of the claims:

“Only U. S. P. ingredients are used in Nurito.”

“Guaranteed to relieve or your money refunded, Rheumatism, Sciatica, Neuritis.”

“There is no compound known in medicine that so rationally, scientifically and effectively removes waste and poisons from the human system as Nurito.”

The Association’s laboratory recently analyzed a specimen of Nurito. The report follows:

A dollar-size package of Nurito was purchased and found to contain seven powders. The powders ranged in weight from 9 to 12 grains, the average weight being nearly 11 grains. The presence of pyramidon, phenolphthalein and milk sugar was demonstrated. Alkaloids, acetanilid, acetphenetidin, chlorids, bromids, iodids, heavy metals, starch and sulphates were absent. Quantitative examination indicated that the composition of Nurito is essentially as follows:

Milk sugar	34	per cent.
Phenolphthalein	6	per cent.
Pyramidon	60	per cent.

Each powder, therefore, contains about 2²⁄₃ grains of milk sugar, ²⁄₃ of a grain of phenolphthalein and 6²⁄₃ grains of pyramidon.

What was said of pyramidon in the preceding article applies equally well here. The claim that Nurito is composed of “U. S. P. ingredients” is evidently a falsehood. The chief therapeutic ingredients are pyramidon and phenolphthalein, neither of which is described in the United States Pharmacopeia.—(From the Journal A. M. A., Aug. 10, 1912.)