QUASSIA COMPOUND TABLETS

Report of the Council on Pharmacy and Chemistry

The Council has authorized publication of the following report, declaring that Quassia Compound Tablets (Flint, Eaton and Company) are inadmissible to New and Non­official Remedies.

W. A. Puckner, Secretary.

Quassia Compound Tablets, marketed by Flint, Eaton and Company, Decatur, Ill., according to the label on a trade package submitted to the Council, contain in each tablet:

Quassia

3⁄4 grain  

Aloin

 1⁄4 grain

Chionanthus

 1 grain 

Ipecac

1⁄16 grain

Wahoo

3⁄4 grain 

Podophyllin

 1⁄4 grain

Nux Vomica

1⁄2 grain 

Gingerine

q. s.

Cascara

1⁄3 grain

In the advertising the “Cascara” of the label is replaced by the indefinite term “Cascarin” and the “Gingerine q. s.” by “Carminative Antigripe q. s.” Flint, Eaton and Company informed the Council that “Carminative Antigripe is C. P. Sodium Sulphite of which each tablet contains 1⁄4 grain.” The tablets were treated with dilute hydrochloric acid and the odor of sulphur dioxid became apparent. This shows that the company’s statement to the Council, that the tablets contain a sulphite, is correct and the formula on the label is incorrect.

In the advertising for this preparation we read:

“A careful study of this formula [which formula? That on the label or that in the general advertising?—Council] will reveal the outstanding fact that, while there are several drugs employed, each ingredient is there for a purpose and all do splendid teamwork. If your patient is constipated because the stomach is not sufficiently energetic, the Quassia stimulates that organ to an increased secretion of digestive fluids and sets it to working normally. If the liver be sluggish, the Chionanthus and Wahoo prompt it to increased activity. Chionanthus has no superior for producing a sustained healthy hepatic condition. Should the bowels be slow and uncertain, the small doses of Aloin, Cascarin and Podophyllin stimulate to free peristaltic action, while the Nux Vomica sets the nervous system right. We use an effective Antigripe so that there is no griping.”

It is absurd to suppose that a complex mixture of drugs in fixed proportions can have the actions claimed for Quassia Compound Tablets. As regards the claim that “Chionanthus has no superior for producing a sustained healthy hepatic condition,” it was brought out in a report of the Council on “Some Unimportant Drugs” (Reports of Council on Pharmacy and Chemistry, 1912, p. 36) that the “claims for this remedy [Chionanthus] are not supported by experimental evidence and the clinical reports of its use fail to show indications of discriminating critical observation. It is not noticed by most pharmacologic authorities.”

Of Wahoo (Euonymus N. F.) the “Epitome of the U. S. P. and N. F.” says: “Actions and Uses.—Obsolete cathartic; toxic digitalis effects. Caption: the uncertain absorption of this drug makes its use inadvisable.”

Quassia Compound Tablets (Flint, Eaton and Company) are inadmissible to New and Non­official Remedies because (1) they contain drugs of unproved value; (2) their composition is needlessly complex, and, therefore irrational; (3) unwarranted therapeutic claims are made for them; (4) the name is misleading and not descriptive of their composition, and (5) the statement of their composition is indefinite and incorrect.—(From The Journal A. M. A., July 9, 1921.)