But again says Professor Paine: “Remedial agents operate in the same manner as do the remote causes of disease.” This seems to be a very distinct announcement that remedies are themselves causes of disease. And yet again: “In the administration of medicines we cure one disease by producing another.” This is both important and true.
Professor Paine quotes approvingly the famous professional adage, in good technical Latin,
“Ubi virus, ibi vitus,”
which, being translated, means, “our strongest poisons are our best remedies.”
Says Professor Alonzo Clark, M.D., of the New York College of Physicians and Surgeons: “All of our curative agents are poisons, and as a consequence, every dose diminishes the patient’s vitality.”
Says Professor Joseph M. Smith, M.D., of the same school: “All medicines which enter the circulation poison the blood in the same manner as do the poisons that produce disease.”
Says Professor St. John, of the New York Medical College: “All medicines are poisonous.”
Says Professor E. R. Peaslee, M.D., of the same school: “The administration of powerful medicines is the most fruitful cause of derangements of the digestion.”
Says Professor H. G. Cox, M.D., of the same school: “The fewer remedies you employ in any disease, the better for your patients.”