That such results are not hypothetical is evidenced by the statements of the exploiters of Papayans (Bell) that “the annual sale now exceeds four hundred million tablets.” Assuming that statement to be true, it would be necessary for every physician in the United States to prescribe over three thousand of these tablets every year—if they reached patients only through the physician! The company’s own figures indicate that the time is about ripe to take care of this vast army of self-drugging laymen and recent circular letters seem to recognize it. The physician is notified that druggists are now furnished with Papayans (Bell) “in sealed packages of thirty and one hundred tablets.” The medical man is told that the firm has “not forgotten the days when physicians’ orders made our success possible” and it says it is “sincerely grateful to the doctors who gave us orders in the days when we were struggling for recognition.” This tacit admission of the value of the physician as an unpaid agent for nostrum houses should be given thought by those physicians who prescribe such preparations.
While, so far as we know, Bell & Co. have not yet advertised in the daily press, they are not averse to furnishing the laity with samples when requested. An Ohio physician sent us the following letter received by a young woman who had written asking for samples:
Miss X—— Y——,
Z——.
Dear Madam: As requested, we are mailing you sample of our Papayans (Bell) for Indigestion.
If a sufferer from Indigestion, we want you to give it a thorough trial as directed and note remarkable results that we believe you will get from its use.
Kindly write us if you are unable to obtain it from your local druggist, as it is stocked by nearly every good drugstore in the United States.
Yours truly,
Bell & Co.
Evidently Bell & Co., while admitting that their financial success is largely due to the kindly, though misguided, efforts of physicians, are not going to let a little thing like loyalty to the medical profession interfere with a possible sale of their tablets.
THE L. D. JOHNS COMPANY
A discussion of the methods of Bell & Company would not be complete without reference to a concern which seems to be closely connected with it: the L. D. Johns Company, whose “only product” is a sugar-coated laxative tablet. Regarding the “sugar coated” tablet, a visitor at the place of business of Bell & Company and the L. D. Johns Company wrote: “These companies apparently are not in possession of any tablet coating machines and in questioning on this point stated that some of their tablets were sent out to be coated.” There is a sameness regarding the claims for the laxative tablets of the two companies that might lead one to suspect that the same individual prepared both circulars. For instance: