THE PHILADELPHIA BRANCH OF THE AMERICAN PHARMACEUTICAL ASSOCIATION.
The regular stated meeting of the Philadelphia Branch of the American Pharmaceutical Association was held on the evening of Friday, January 4, 1907, and was attended by 63 members and visitors.
The minutes of the previous meeting were read and declared approved.
The Committee on Sunday Closing and the Committee on State Legislation made preliminary reports that were received and ordered filed.
On behalf of the Committee on State Legislation Mr. Cliffe said that members of the committee had had an opportunity to confer with the members of a special committee of the State Legislature on the subject and that a joint conference of members of committees interested in the enactment of a State Food and Drug Law would be held at the Philadelphia College of Pharmacy on the evening of Tuesday, January 15, 1907.
The regular program for the evening was then proceeded with. This consisted of a discussion of “The Debasing Influences of Fraudulent Nostrums.”
The first communication, by Dr. Solomon Solis Cohen, was devoted to the consideration of “Secrecy and Fraud as Deterring Factors to the Progress of Medicine.” Dr. Cohen, in the course of his remarks, said that progress means an ascent from little or no knowledge to knowledge, and from knowledge to greater knowledge. Secrecy is the withholding of knowledge and breeds ignorance, while fraud is even worse than ignorance in that it is designed to mislead.
Dr. Cohen also asserted that therapeutics was difficult enough under the most favorable conditions and that in cases where a physician is confronted with secrecy or fraud, in the statements made in connection with medicinal preparations, he is likely to be misled himself and to do untold harm to his patients.
In concluding, the speaker referred to a number of specific preparations which have been discovered to differ materially in composition from what was claimed for them. He also expressed the hope that the Federal Pure Food and Drugs Law would be instrumental in leading manufacturers to more duly appreciate the need for a greater degree of honesty in the exploitation of their wares. If pharmacy is to make progress and if medicine is to make progress it will necessitate a full and complete knowledge of the composition and action of the substances used in the treatment of diseases.
The next communication, by Dr. Henry Leffmann, dealt with: “Known and Unknown Changes in the Composition of well-known Nostrums.”
Dr. Leffmann said that the question of secrecy was one of the most intricate problems and one that involved a number of factors.
Secrecy in connection with nostrums, the composition of which was known only to some one or more individuals, but not to all was an objectionable feature and frequently led to arbitrary and in many instances dangerous changes in the composition and the action of nostrums.
Dr. Leffmann then called attention to a number of specific instances in which it was known that changes had been made in the composition of widely advertised nostrums and also pointed out how these changes might be injurious to the consumer.
“Criminal Responsibility in the Sale of Abortifacients” was the subject matter of the communication by Dr. Henry Beates, Jr.
Dr. Beates referred to the various statutes relating to the use, sale or distribution of abortifacients and condemned, in no uncertain terms, the practice of advertising, in lay journals, articles designed to prevent conception or to produce abortion. He held that additional publicity might well be given to the serious nature of the questions involved, and urged that steps be taken to prevent the use of the United States mails by newspapers and magazines publishing advertisements of abortifacients or of instruments designed to prevent conception.
Dr. John B. Roberts, in opening the general discussion of the question, asserted that there certainly could be no difference of opinion on the degrading influences of practices that, as had been shown by the previous speakers, tended to convert pharmacists and pharmaceutical manufacturers into liars and medical practitioners into frauds and fakirs.
The subject matter was further discussed by Dr. Henry W. Cattell, Dr. F. E. Stewart, Dr. C. B. Lowe and Messrs. Remington, LaWall, Turner, Thum, Beringer, Vanderkleed, Cable, Westcott, Wilbert and Cliffe.
Mr. Cliffe presented the following resolutions, which, on motion, were unanimously adopted:
Resolved that the Philadelphia Branch of the American Pharmaceutical Association condemns the advertisement in drug journals, magazines and newspapers of abortifacient medicines and deprecates their sale by reputable pharmacists.
Resolved that all members of this branch be urged to exclude such medicines and articles from their stocks.
The secretary then read a communication entitled “Objectionable Side Lines to the Practice of Medicine,” specifically mentioning several profit-sharing and stock-distributing schemes that are now doing business in the city of Philadelphia.
This communication was, on motion, directed to be forwarded to the Secretary of the Philadelphia County Medical Society with the offer to submit additional evidence to the officials of that organization.
There being no further business the meeting was declared adjourned.