Sinkina is a malaria “cure” put on the market by the Metropolitan Pharmacal Company, New York. The product was presented to the Council on Pharmacy and Chemistry for admission to New and Nonofficial Remedies and was rejected because insufficient evidence was submitted to substantiate the improbable claims made for it. The manufacturers were sent a copy of the report stating that their product was refused recognition. In view of the advertising that was persisted in after its rejection, the Council’s referee for Sinkina submitted the preparation to clinical tests. Both the original report and the results of the clinical tests are given in the following report, which was submitted to the Council and recommended for publication. The complete report having been sent to the manufacturers and their reply considered, the Council authorizes its publication.
W. A. Puckner, Secretary.
THE COUNCIL’S FIRST REPORT
The Council, after investigating the claims made for Sinkina, declared the product unworthy of recognition and adopted the following report, which was sent to the manufacturers:
No experimental evidence regarding the therapeutic value has been submitted. The clinical evidence is scant and not of such character as to deserve much consideration, no sufficient precautions having been adopted to avoid wrong conclusions. Judging from the evidence at hand the preparation is simply a dilute sugar-alcohol-water solution containing a little oil of cumin—Roman caraway. It is highly improbable that such a liquid would have the therapeutic effects claimed for it by the Metropolitan Pharmacal Company. In view of the improbable claims made for Sinkina, and the failure to substantiate them by suitable evidence, it is recommended that the preparation be refused recognition without at this time considering the claims made in regard to the identity and amount of the drug claimed to be the essential constituent.
In spite of its rejection Sinkina was persistently advertised. It was thought advisable, therefore, to submit the preparation to clinical tests. This was done and the results are given in the following report:
THE CLINICAL REPORT
The following quotations indicate the claims made for this preparation:
“In malarial conditions there is nothing that acts so promptly and efficaciously as Sinkina. Sinkina destroys radically every trace of the parasite in the blood from the time of its first appearance, builds up the damaged corpuscles, revitalizes the system, and completely eliminates every trace of the disease. Sinkina is deservedly termed the Specific for Malaria.”