UNGUENTUM SELENIO VANADIC (V. ROEMER)
Report of the Council on Pharmacy and Chemistry
Unguentum Selenio Vanadic (v. Roemer) is an ointment manufactured by A. von Roemer, Brooklyn, N. Y., and put on the market by Schering and Glatz, New York. It is claimed to contain 1 per cent. of selenium oxycyanid and 1 per cent. of vanadium chlorid “so prepared and incorporated into a modified lanolin base as to insure complete absorption.” The preparation is recommended in the later stages of inoperable carcinoma, sarcoma, epithelioma and other malignant tumors, as a substitute for morphin and other narcotics to control pain, as a modifying (ante-operative) treatment in the middle stage of malignant cases presenting the characteristics of being inoperable, and as a prophylactic treatment of recurrences and metastases following excision of malignant tumors. It is also recommended for use in slow-healing surgical wounds, abscesses, tuberculous and mixed septic and gangrenous processes, etc., in lupus, acne, eczema, psoriasis, scabies, erythemata, adenomata, angiomata, papillomata, etc. The use of the ointment is further recommended by systemic inunction in septicemia, pneumonia, erysipelas, cerebrospinal meningitis, septic rheumatism, septic neuritis, etc. The Council voted that the preparation be not accepted for inclusion with New and Nonofficial Remedies because no evidence has been submitted that the vanadium and selenium are absorbed or that they produce any of the effects claimed.
When the preceding report was sent to Schering and Glatz, the firm expressed surprise that evidence of the absorption of selenium and vanadium should be requested. On June 8 the firm wrote that within a few days one or more tests would be sent by which the presence of selenium and vanadium in the urine could be demonstrated. These tests were not received. So far (November, 1914) no evidence of the value of the preparation either in carcinoma or in any of the very long list of other diseases in which it is recommended has been submitted, and, the pharmacologic evidence that such a preparation would be of value in such conditions being practically nil, the Council authorized publication of this report.—(From The Journal A. M. A., Nov. 21, 1914.)
UNICORN ROOT, WILD YAM AND WILD INDIGO
Report of the Council on Pharmacy and Chemistry
The Council has voted that recognition be refused to the following: Unicorn Root (Aletris farinosa), Wild Yam (Dioscorea villosa), and Wild Indigo (Baptisia tinctoria) and has authorized the publication of the following statements.
W. A. Puckner, Secretary.