THE JIREH DIABETIC FOOD COMPANY
The Company Rises to Explain in a Brief Note of One Thousand Words
Exploiters of fraudulent and dangerous pharmaceutical products have no love for The Journal. When such products are exposed in these pages, their manufacturers seldom reply to the criticisms except through indirect channels. Then the replies are frequently replete with billingsgate and denunciation of The Journal and its editor, the Association and the medical profession generally.
We have, at different times, had to call the attention of the public and the medical profession to the fraudulence and dangers of some of the products of the Jireh Diabetic Food Company. We have shown that the Jireh company lied boldly and directly so long as it could do so without getting into the courts, and that it lies inferentially still; we have shown that Jireh flour had practically as much carbohydrate as ordinary flour; we have shown that, probably to escape prosecution under the Food and Drugs Act, the Jireh concern has coined the word “diatetic” and substituted it for the word “diabetic,” which used to appear in its advertisements; we have shown that the claim made for the Jireh products that they are “starch-changed” was a false one, and that the company has modified this to “starch-treated,” presumably to avoid being haled into the courts under the “pure food law;” we have shown, in short, the unreliability both of the Jireh concern and of its products.
Two or three weeks ago a New York physician wrote to The Journal for information regarding the Jireh products. We sent him such matter as had been published on the subject, and he showed this material to a patient who was using the Jireh products. The patient, in turn, expressed her opinion of the product to the retailer from whom she had been purchasing it. A day or two later she received a letter from the Jireh Diabetic Food Company, which, in spite of its length and discursiveness, we publish in full, so that physicians may know just what this company thinks of them. The letter, which is dated Nov. 20, 1913, really belongs in the “Knocks and Boosts” department, but its length prevents its use there. Here it is:
“We learned through Mess. Cushman Co. that you are a constant user of Jireh Foods for some time past, and that recently a certain derogatory statement was brought to your attention relative to our product. We feel an explanation is due you for two reasons.
“First, because we want you to continue using Jireh Foods and thus receive the benefits of the same; and second, that the remarks called to your attention are not only libelous, but are in no way pertinent enough to detract from the value of our product. In the first place, we want to state that the particular journal in question has been endeavoring to injure our business for some time past and that we are not the only descent [sic] manufacturers of foods that are suffering in this way at the hands of the editors of this particular magazine. Since you are interested in the Jireh Foods, you may be more interested to learn why this particular magazine is so anxious to injure our reputation. The reason is very obvious if you will take into account the fact that this magazine is the official journal of the medical association of this country which is known as the backer of the medical trust. It is very clear to you, no doubt, that there are some physicians, particularly those that are associated with the magazine, who are anxious to stamp out of existance [sic] such concerns that offer a bona fide product, a meritorious product which actually produces the required results, without the aid of medicine.
“For the particular maladies for which we offer our foods, we have been very successful, consequently the antagonism on the part of this particular journal is the logical thing. In addition to this, however, and perhaps more important to us, is the fact that the editors of this magazine have made it known to us that they will not approve of our product until such time that we care to be dominated by the moving influence of the magazine in question. They want us to supply them with the private formula which we use for manufacturing our foods and to enlighten them and show them the various processes applied to our products to produce the required results. As a bona fide and ethical business house, we absolutely and unqualifiedly refuse to comply with this wish, and will always refuse to do so, no matter how often they may attack us. We stand strictly on principle in this matter and propose to run our business in our own way, and will not, under any circumstances, allow a magazine or anybody else dictate to us under what conditions we are allowed to do our business.
“The remarks which they make would perhaps hurt us some if they emanated from a source that was qualified to judge the merits of our food. The absurd side of the issue, and perhaps the comical side of it, is the fact that the honorable gentlemen who assume to condemn a product, know less about the disease for which the product is offered, and much less about diet and foods than the average layman. Consequently, we consider it simply absurd to allow them to step into our business and dictate policy to us. This is the jist [sic] of the discontent that prevails between the magazine editors and ourselves, and as long as we refuse to comply with their wish, we certainly cannot expect them to speak well of us. It has become a notorious fact in the medical profession that their criticisms are almost valueless, inasmuch as they stop at nothing in order to create sensationalism, and have attacked not only ourselves, but every bona fide manufacturer of foods and drugs in this country who has refused to fall in line with them.
“This explanation, we trust, will appeal to your good judgment and will convince you of what is said about us is untrue. Furthermore, our business has grown to colossal proportions, notwithstanding their endeavors to crush us. We call your attention to a most peculiar fact: that is, that they make no comment whatsoever as to the product and its therapeutic value in the treatment of diabetes. You notice they make an awful play on our literature, which was changed merely to suit conditions in business. We also wish to call your attention to another peculiar fact, and that is that a great majority of the physicians who are in with this magazine readily recommended our foods, and we also believe that your physician, after reading this letter, will feel the same way as most physicians do in relation to our foods. We believe that your physician is perfectly willing to be convinced that our foods are as represented to be, and the very best clinical evidence as this is the effect our foods have had upon you. Finally, if the foods are palatable and wholesome and have alleviated the annoying symptoms of Diabetes, then why should you be guided by the opinions of demagogues and yellow journalists?
“You may be pleased to learn that our foods have received the attention of Dr. Wiley, the well-known chemist and food scientist of this country, and we have now in our possession his reports showing the very high standard of our foods. This, in our opinion, is of more consequence than all the harangue which those venerable gentlemen of the magazine may indulge in.
“We want to convince you without an atom of doubt that we are honest and bona fide in everything we say, and we extend to you a hearty invitation to call at the first opportunity and shall be glad to tell you anything you may wish to know. Thus awaiting the pleasure of this visit, we beg to remain
“Yours very truly,
“Jireh Diabetic Food Co.”
We learn from this letter that The Journal’s “remarks” on the Jireh product are “libelous.” We have made them many times and for several years past; if libelous, the manufacturer has excellent grounds for damages. We learn, too, that our remarks “are in no way pertinent enough to detract from the value” of the Jireh products. Why, then, take any notice of them? We learn, moreover, for the hundred-and-first time, that The Journal is the official organ of the “medical trust,” and we are told that “there are some physicians” that are opposed to the Jireh Foods because these products cure diabetes without the use of medicine! The Journal, so the company says, wants the Jireh Diabetic Food Company to supply its “private formula” and to show the “various processes” by which the Jireh products are made. Such statements indicate that the Jireh Diabetic Food Company does not confine its mendacity to the mere advertising of its product, where the necessity for lying is naturally great.
The ambiguous remarks regarding Dr. Wiley are evidently intended to convey the idea that the doctor approves of the Jireh products. Dr. Wiley was sent a copy of the Jireh letter and his attention directed to the statements appearing therein regarding himself. He replied:
“In regard to the Jireh products and their claims that our reports show the very high standing of their foods, I would say that I consider such a claim entirely false.... We did examine five or six products in our own laboratory, however, and found them to be of very fair composition per se, but not of a composition that afforded any legitimate basis for their claims. We entirely disapproved ... three of the products making special claim as to their fitness for diabetics. [Italics ours.—Ed.] These were the Wheat Nuts, the Jireh Flour and the Patent Barley. Two of the other products were passed with a non-committal rating, which means that they are not actually disapproved, but the star marking is not accorded. These products were the dietetic Rusks and the Macaroni. For the latter especially no specific claims seem to be made. We called attention, however, to the generally objectionable juggling of terms indulged in by this company....”
The Jireh concern says that in spite of the efforts of The Journal to “crush” it, “our business has grown to colossal proportions.” Of this the New York physician who sends us the letter says: “Their ‘colossal proportions’ must have received a slight jar or they would not have taken time to write such a letter.”—(From The Journal A. M. A., Dec. 20, 1913.)
THE NAME “EPINEPHRIN” VERSUS THE NAME “ADRENALIN” [AT]
There are thirty or more different brands of the blood-pressure-raising principle of the suprarenal gland on the market, five being in this country alone. These products are identical so far as their chief constituent is concerned; they differ, however as to the solvent and preservative used. The processes of manufacture of some of them are patented; all of them are sold under trade names.
Until two years ago there was no common name applicable to this active principle; whenever reference was made to it a trade name had to be used. At that time the Council on Pharmacy and Chemistry, realizing the need of a generic term, adopted “epinephrin” as such a term. This name was selected in part because Abel had adopted it in 1899; in part because, so far as could be discovered, it was the name under which, through Abel’s publications, the substance first appeared in medical literature; and in part because it seemed to be the only suitable one not already appropriated by some commercial firm.
After the publication of the Council’s report, The Journal began gradually to use the term in those cases in which it seemed clear that the proprietary term was used in a generic sense. The substitution of the name “epinephrin” for “adrenalin” in the abstracts of certain foreign articles caused Parke, Davis & Co. to write a letter of protest which called forth the discussion appearing in the Propaganda Department of this issue.
The amount of space devoted to this matter may be criticized and considered unwarranted by those who do not realize the importance of the subject. The criticism is to a certain degree, just. The somewhat inordinate length of the article is due in part to the unfortunate fact that, in availing themselves of the courtesy extended by The Journal, Parke, Davis & Co., in their reply, have injected into the discussion side-issues, such as the priority of discovery, the superiority of their product, etc., whereas the question under discussion is simply that which relates to the name. It is, however, not altogether a matter for regret that the discussion has been thus broadened, for it brings before our readers many facts regarding the discovery of an important medicinal agent that are not generally known, at least by physicians.
Whether or not “adrenalin” is superior to “adrin,” “suprarenalin,” “suprarenin,” “adnephrin,” or to any other of the preparations is entirely immaterial in this connection. The point is that the active principle of the suprarenal gland is on the market under various trade names, and that a name common to all has been selected to be used when no particular brand is referred to. The fact that “adrenalin” is regarded by many, both here and abroad, as a common, generic name does not alter the fact that it is claimed as a trade name by a commercial house and, therefore, presumably at least, cannot be used except as such.
Among the facts brought out in this discussion, one stands out clearly: that Abel deserves as much credit for the discovery as any other man, if not more. Credit belongs to Takamine for making use of reactions which were already well known. His work was a step in the progress of knowledge of the substance, but it was a step which he could not have taken but for what others, Abel especially, had accomplished and published. Abel’s magnificent work, covering several years, deserves as much credit, to say the least, as that of Takamine. And it should be kept in mind that the former worked in the interest of science, and published his results for the benefit of all. He had no hope of pecuniary reward, asked for none, and received none.
Let us repeat, however, that these are side issues; the question is simply that of name. It cannot be too strongly emphasized that “epinephrin” is a true scientific name for the active principle of the suprarenal gland, and that it should be used on all occasions when the active principle and not some particular firm’s make is referred to.—(From The Journal A. M. A., March 25, 1911.)