THIALION
Report of the Council on Pharmacy and Chemistry
The following report was submitted to the Council by a subcommittee which examined Thialion (Vass Chemical Company):
To the Council on Pharmacy and Chemistry:—We beg leave to report on Thialion as follows:
Thialion is sold by the Vass Chemical Co., Danbury, Conn. In the literature supplied to physicians and in the advertisements in medical journals, Thialion is stated to be “a laxative salt of lithia” with the chemical formula “3Li2O.NaO.SO3.7HO.” “Sodio-trilithic anhydrosulphate” is given as a synonym. An elaborate graphic or structural formula is also given.
According to analyses, this preparation is a mixture consisting chiefly of sodium sulphate and sodium citrate with very small amounts of lithium, the average of several estimations indicating the following composition:
| Sodium citrate | 58.6 |
| Sodium sulphate, anhydrous | 26.6 |
| Sodium chlorid | 3.3 |
| Lithium citrate, anhydrous | 1.8 |
| Water | 9.7 |
Thus, the advertising literature is a deliberate misrepresentation of the facts. It is, therefore, recommended that the preparation be refused recognition, and that this report be published.
The recommendations of the subcommittee were adopted by the Council and in accordance therewith the above report is published.
W. A. Puckner, Secretary.
In publishing the above report, the Council is presenting to the medical profession another object lesson, and one that illustrates how easily our profession is being humbugged. There are several things that we may learn from the report on this nostrum, but at this time we will take up only one phase of the lesson. Many of the scientific chemical compounds and derivatives given us by the German chemists have been distinct advancements and have proved to be valuable additions to our therapeutic agents; further, they were received with so much favor by physicians that they have been profitable for those who made them. It is not strange, therefore, that imitators should appear. One of the first was our old friend, Antikamnia (which was introduced as a “new synthetical” compound). This was followed by Ammonol, Phenalgin, Salacetin, and a host of others having acetanilid as their principal ingredient.
This picturesque “graphic formula” for Thialion appears with many of the advertisements. To most of us it looks formidable, wonderfully and deeply scientific and non-understandable; to a chemist it looks absurd.
But there are hundreds of other so-called “new chemical” compounds among the “ethical” proprietaries on the market aside from the acetanilid mixtures. These wonderful compounds, by the mysterious union of their ingredients, possess therapeutic properties different from, or more powerful for good than the drugs from which they are made. At least, this is what we are told, and this is what many believe or they would not sell so well.
There is another factor worth noticing connected with this subject: When to the claim that the mixture is a “chemical compound” is added a complex chemical formula, it prevents the impertinent question, “What is it?” For isn’t the “formula” there, and is not the information given without the asking? Most of us have been so overcome by the display of the chemical knowledge of the nostrum maker that we have been afraid to expose our ignorance by asking for information or explanation. And thus the promoter avoids perplexing questions, which, if answered truthfully, would spell bankruptcy.
To a chemist the formula of Thialion furnished by the Vass Chemical Company signifies nothing. To a physician who possesses but little knowledge of chemistry, it will seem impressive, and he may absorb the idea that it stands for a preparation that is the result of exhaustive scientific research. To the chemist, this formula will appear as a jumble of symbols and numbers that mean nothing.
It is not worth while to call attention to the simplicity of this simple mixture of ordinary salts, for it is too self-evident. As to the remarkable therapeutic qualities of Thialion, the reader is referred to that ably edited “scientific” periodical, the Uric Acid Monthly, and to the mass of “literature” relating to this wonderful remedy.
While there is a ridiculous side to this business, there is also a serious one. Those who have been making money out of us undoubtedly laugh in their sleeves at our gullibility, but to us as members of a presumably learned and intelligent profession, it is not a laughing matter. The whole nostrum business is a shame and a disgrace.—(Modified from The Journal A. M. A., Nov. 3, 1906.)