PYO-ATOXIN

“To the Editor:—I am sending you a sample of a proprietary preparation that for the past two or three years has been largely retailed in the South and Southwest as a new combination that liberates larger amounts of formaldehyd, etc., in the genito-urinary tract than any known agent, that it is a methylene-formate, entirely new, etc.

“I asked the representative why he had not submitted a specimen to the Council, and his reply was that like Wyeth and others they did not get a fair report, or something to this effect. My reasons for trying to find the truth for their claims is that quite a number of general practitioners have asked me regarding this Pyo-Atoxin.

“W. P. Dey, M.D., Jacksonville, Fla.”

Dr. Dey sent with the foregoing letter a box of Pyo-Atoxin which bore this label:

Pyo-Atoxin
Reg. in U. S. Pat. Office
(Capsules)
(Pheno-Methylene-Formate)
“Hurley”
An Antitoxic Agent Indicated in
Gonorrhoea, Cystitis, Pyelitis and
Bacteriuric Conditions.
DOSE: One capsule four to six times daily,
Followed by large glass of water.
Guaranteed by
H. O. Hurley,
Manufacturing Pharmacist,
Louisville, Ky.
Under the Food and Drugs Act, June 30, 1906
Serial No. 1710.

The pseudo­scien­tific synonym “pheno-methylene-formate” carries the idea that Pyo-Atoxin is a definite chemical substance. It is unnecessary to say that the term “pheno-methylene-formate” is a meaningless one and its use reminds one of those preparations exploited seven or eight years ago before the Council began to expose these mixtures masquerading as definite chemical compounds.

The chemical laboratory was asked to investigate this preparation and the following is a report of the chemists:

“The box contained thirty gelatin capsules coated with some black substance giving them the appearance of some of the popular gonorrhea nostrums. When the capsules were opened they were found to contain a powder—​about 0.35 gm. or 5 grains per capsule—​composed of large white or colorless crystals mixed with a smaller amount of a fine dark powder. The crystals when separated out and dissolved yielded the characteristic tests for hexa­methylen­amin. A solution of the entire capsule content was deep blue and responded to the U. S. P. tests for methylene blue.

“As a result of these and other tests it was concluded that Pyo-Atoxin consisted essentially of two pharmacopeial drugs—​hexa­methylen­amin and methylene blue. A quantitative determination of the constituents was considered unnecessary. From its general appearance and properties, however, the hexa­methylen­amin probably constitutes approximately from 60 to 80 per cent. of the preparation.”

It thus appears that the capsules contain a mixture consisting essentially of two well-known official substances, the value and particularly the limitations of which should be known by physicians by this time. This nostrum is simply another example of how physicians are being humbugged.​—(From The Journal A. M. A., Feb. 14, 1914.)