The Propaganda for Reform in Proprietary Medicines, Vol. 2 of 2

by Council on Pharmacy and Chemistry

MARK WHITE GOITER SERUM AND MARK WHITE IODINIZED OIL

Report of the Council on Pharmacy and Chemistry

The “Mark White Goiter Serum Laboratories” of Chicago asked the Council to consider its products “Mark White Goiter Serum” and “Mark White Iodinized Oil.” The “serum” was claimed to be an “antibody blood serum from a goat with thyroidosis” while the “Iodinized Oil” was said to contain “about 4 grains of iodin” to “each c.c.” The therapeutic indications for the treatment were given as:

“Simple or Exophthalmic Goiter, Hyperthyroidism-dosis, Thyrosis, Thyroidosis, Thyrotoxicosis, Dementia.”

An ampule (2 c.c.) of the “serum” is to be injected into the thyroid to be followed one week later by an ampule (2 c.c.) of the “Iodinized Oil.” Repetition of this “treatment” once or twice a month is advised.

The Council asked for more specific information as to the composition of the remedies, particularly as to the preparation and nature of the serum; it also asked for evidence of the therapeutic value of the preparations. In reply, Mark White wrote:

“All that I can say regarding the serum is that it is made from the blood of goats with thyroid affection, and it has been found that the serum from these goats has antibodies which control, or has curative effect upon thyroid affections when injected into thyroid glands of either humans or animals. As to the iodinised oil, it is only an adjunct or side treatment which is not always used or indicated, and will only be furnished to the physician for use in case in his judgment his patient needs it. We shall also advise the use of quinin ... when indicated....”

The Council was referred for further information to a paper by Rachel Watkins, M.D., published in the Illinois Medical Journal. It is to be noted, incidentally, that the letterheads used by White in his correspondence bore in one corner the notation “Rachel Watkins, M.D., Practice Limited to Goiter and Other Disorders of the Thyroid Glands,” and in the other, “Mark White, Goiter Research.”

The information regarding the composition of this goiter treatment, as furnished in Dr. Watkins’ paper, was to this effect:

“The medical treatment consists of the administration of a blood serum derived from a thyrodized goat. Formula: Iodine 0.16 grams [according to a correction by Mark White, this should read 0.26 gm.], oil 0.25 c.c., serum q. s. 1 c.c.”

This description of the treatment differs from that furnished to the Council by Mark White in that here the iodin and oil appear to be combined with the serum. Dr. Watkins’ “formula” implies that the iodin is a routine medication, thus contradicting White’s statement, which, in turn, is at variance with the statements made in submitting the treatment.

Photographic reproductions (greatly reduced) of some of the letterheads used by the Mark White concern during the past five years.

The Council does not accept any biologic product until its sale in interstate commerce has been authorized by the secretary of the treasury in accordance with the federal law regulating the sale of viruses, serums, toxins and analogous products. The sale of the Mark White Goiter Serum has not been so authorized; consequently even if the preparation complied with other rules of the Council it could not be accepted.

In addition, however, this treatment conflicts with other Council rules. The statements regarding its composition are indefinite and contradictory (Rule 1); the evidence presented to support the therapeutic claims is insufficient in itself and does not appear to have been checked by any disinterested authority (Rule 6). Moreover, the recognized variation in the morphology and pathology of the types of goiter render it impracticable to treat cases of goiter by any routine procedure.

The foregoing report was submitted to the Mark White Goiter Serum Laboratory. In reply, a letter signed “Mark White, V.M.D.,” was received, which read, in part:

“... we hope at some future time to be able to give you more detailed information, but as you possibly appreciate that we have experienced for some time a demand on the part of many physicians that we furnish to them our therapy, which necessitates us furnishing it before all the detailed work has yet been accomplished, and I trust that you will be so kind as to bear patiently with us until we are better in a position to make a complete scientific application and report to you.”

White wrote further:

“The serum and iodized oil may be mixed for immediate use, but could not be put up only separate for the use of the profession and the therapy furnished Dr. Watkins she mixed as used.”

This statement throws no light on the discrepancies in the statements with regard to the place of the iodinized oil in the treatment, namely: (a) the original statement that the oil was to be given a week after the serum; (b) White’s statement (quoted earlier in this report) that the oil “is only an adjunct or side treatment” and “is not always used or indicated”; (c) the statement in Dr. Watkins’ paper that the oil and the serum are given in combination.

The Council declared the Mark White Goiter Serum and Mark White Iodinized Oil ineligible for New and Non­official Remedies and authorized publication of this report.

Editorial Note on the Mark White “Serum”

As some of our readers will remember, on April 26, 1913, The Journal called attention to the Mark White preparation which at that time was being exploited from Denver. The Propaganda Department has in its files a number of letters sent out from the Mark White concern at various times. One mailed in May, 1911, on the embossed stationery of “The Mark White Goiter Institute,” Exchange Building, Denver, was evidently a general letter sent to physicians, calling their attention to “the most important medical discovery of the age.” “Dr. Mark White, a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania,” said the letter, had discovered “a simple and harmless remedy” that would cure goiter. “Because of the desire to preserve the secrecy of this remedy it is given only at the office here.” It was then suggested that the doctor might send those of his patients who were suffering from thyroidism to the “Mark White Goitre Institute.” If he would do so he would be “given a commission of $10, in cases of the $50 fee with the additional $5 for each $50 increase.” It closed with some casuistic arguments, presumably for the purpose of overcoming the physician’s scruples, summing up the matter with the statement:

“No right thinking man will allow a narrow and self-seeking system of ethics to stand between him and his duty to the sick and suffering.”

About 1912 the name of the concern seems to have been changed, for we have in our files a letter addressed to a layman on the stationery of the “Mark White Goitre Treatment Company.” According to this letterhead the product this concern had for sale was “Goitreine” discovered by Mark White, “President and General Manager.” Mr. White’s letter to the sufferer from goiter assured him that if he would take “Goitreine” he might “be practically sure of an immediate and permanent cure.” “Goitreine,” according to White, “has absolutely and permanently cured 90 per cent.” of all cases of goiter in which it has been used—“and the other ten showed remarkable improvement.” It was efficacious for all forms of goiter and “cannot possibly harm.”

The person who received this assurance might have had his confidence in it shaken had he seen a copy of the Denver News for May 23, 1911, in which was reported a case of collapse and death in a woman following an injection given in White’s office. The paper stated that the death certificate was signed by one W. A. Gray and gave “fatty degeneration of the heart and goiter” as the cause of death. Gray, it seems, was the licensed physician employed by Mark White to administer “Goitreine”—if that is what White happened to be calling his product at that time. For here it may be stated, parenthetically, that Mark White is not a physician; he is a veterinarian.

In February, 1913, Mark White sent a circular letter to a number of medical publications with the request that it be printed in full in the next issue, “to cover one full page of space.” The letter White wanted printed was addressed to doctors offering to “enter into a copartnership agreement” with such physicians who would be willing to treat “patients with goiter affections on a 50 per cent. commission basis.”

“You would be expected to make a cash charge to the patient for the treatment, remitting on the same day our 50 per cent. to us, when ordering the treatment, giving the treatment in no cases for less than $50.00.”

About the same time that Mark White made this “fifty-fifty” offer, he sent in an advertisement to be published in the classified column of The Journal. At that time he was told his advertisement was not acceptable; we now reprint it, however, free of charge. Here it is:

“WANTED—ONE OR MORE PHYSICIANS
in each vicinity to administer and represent our new medical treatment for GOITER. Good margin of profit. Write for copy of contract. The Mark White Goitre Treatment Co., Denver, Colo.”

In 1914, White moved to Chicago. At least the card which we reproduce so indicates. At that time, as will be seen, “Dr. Mark White” was “personally associated” with Peter S. Clark, M.D. According to the same card Dr. F. D. Paul of Rock Island, Ill., seems to have been his “associate” for that particular locality. In this connection, it is worth noting that a Rock Island paper, in one of its issues during July, 1913, devoted a good deal of space to “Dr. Mark White” who was at that time in Rock Island “directing Dr. Frank D. Paul in the administering of the treatment.” There was nothing to indicate that this notice was an advertisement or that the editorial appearing in the same issue puffing White’s “important cure,” was paid for.

When exploited from Denver the Mark White “goiter cure” was advertised in the daily papers. Here is a photographic reproduction (reduced) of an advertisement that appeared in the Denver Post, Sept. 1, 1912.

Dr. W. A. Gray, who has already been mentioned as White’s associate in Denver, seems to have been doing business in Illinois some time in 1913 and a Princeton (Ill.) paper had some uncomplimentary things to say about him. Finally in July, 1913, this item appeared in a Princeton paper.

“Dr. W. A. Gray, the goiter specialist who operated last winter at Princeton and Walnut until he became embroiled with Dr. Mark White, a Denver veterinary and originator of the cure, over a division of the spoils, has opened a goiter institute in Chicago under his own name. Advertisements of the Dr. Gray Goiter Institute appeared Sunday morning in the Chicago Examiner and other morning papers. Dr. Gray and Mark White broke off their relations after their disagreement at Walnut, and Dr. Gray slightly changed the ingredients of the goiter cure and started off on his own hook.”

One of Gray’s advertisements in Chicago newspapers made the claim that “Dr. Gray’s New Medical Treatment removes the cause of goiter in seven days.”

Photographic reproduction (reduced) of the “professional” card used by “Dr. Mark White” after he came to Chicago.

The Tulsa (Okla.) associate of “Dr.” White seems to have been Dr. J. H. Morgan and the Tulsa papers of June, 1914, tell of “Dr.” White’s visit to that city “for the purpose of instructing Dr. J. H. Morgan in the technique of his new medical treatment for nervous disorders and goiter.” Some months later—in December, 1915—the following little item appeared in a Tulsa paper:

“Dr. Mark White was found guilty in the county court yesterday of practicing medicine without a license and was fined $50. Doctor White is a goiter specialist.”

In September, 1915, Mr. Thomas S. Hogan, the efficient counsel for the Illinois State Board of Health, instituted action against Mark White for practicing medicine without a license. The case was tried Oct. 15, 1915, and the jury, after being out four hours, returned a verdict of “not guilty.” Attorney Hogan attributes the failure to obtain a conviction to the testimony of Dr. Rachel Watkins, who said she had a partnership arrangement with White in carrying on the medical business. It was about this time that Mark White seems to have issued some new letterheads. These bore in their upper left hand corner the device “Rachel Watkins, M. D., Practice Limited to Goiter and Other Disorders of the Thyroid Glands,” while the upper right hand corner read “Mark White, Goiter Research.”

On Dec. 9, 1915, Rachel Watkins, M. D., of Chicago, read a paper entitled “A Serum Treatment for Physiologically Defective Thyroids, With Clinical Reports” before the Stock Yards Branch of the Chicago Medical Society. The “serum treatment” discussed was Mark White’s “Goitreine” which, in the course of its checkered career, had lost its original name by the wayside. This paper appeared in the December, 1915, issue of the Illinois Medical Journal.

Probably emboldened by the ease with which a component part of the American Medical Association “fell for” a paper exploiting a “goiter cure,” Dr. Watkins requested that she be permitted to read a paper on the same subject before the Section on Pharmacology and Therapeutics at the Detroit meeting of the American Medical Association last June. The request was refused. Dr. Watkins is apparently no longer connected with White and in fact has protested against the use of her name by White in connection with his “goiter cure.”

[After the above was in type and ready for the pages of The Journal, attention was called to the Official Bulletin of the Chicago Medical Society of Sept. 16, 1916. This Bulletin contained a full page advertisement of the Mark White “goiter cure.” The advertiser referred to the preparation as having been “announced to the Chicago Medical Society” and declared it to be “an ethical therapeutic agent.” Mark White was described as “a medical research student” but no hint was given that he is a veterinarian. After again emphasizing that “this therapy is ethically proven” physicians were invited to “visit our goats when convenient” and the advertisement closed with the modest claim that “this thyroid therapy has equal curative therapeutic value in these cases as quinin in malaria.” And this sort of pseudo-scientific claptrap is presented to a presumably learned profession through its own official Bulletin—but what’s the use of commenting!]—(From The Journal A. M. A., Sept. 23, 1916.)

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