B.—Data Submitted by Physicians

POISONING.DEATH.HABITUAL
USE.
Acetanilid61416112
Antipyrin10557
Acetphenetidin95717
—————
Total81428136

C.—Total Number of Cases

POISONING.DEATH.HABITUAL
USE.
Acetanilid91129144
Antipyrin593157
Acetphenetidin1651018
——————
Total1,66954169

The bulletin contains information with regard to dosage, the extent to which these drugs are employed by physicians, poisoning and habitual use, the nature of the ill effects produced, etc. It also contains references to the recorded cases of poisoning, together with a brief abstract of each case.—(From The Journal A. M. A., July 31, 1909.)

Sanatoriums and the Acetanilid Habit

To the Editor:—I enclose herewith a “form” letter and question blank which I received recently from St. Louis. I may be entirely too wary but I am suspicious that this is a collection of “statistics” to combat the work of the medical profession in educating the physician and the laity in the harmfulness of acetanilid and similar preparations.

G. H. Benton, M.D., Chester, W. Va.
Sterling-Worth Sanitarium.

Comment: The letter which Dr. Benton encloses is in facsimile form and purports to come from Uriel S. Boone, M.D., of St. Louis, who states that he is “preparing an exhaustive article for publication in a leading medical journal” on the question, “Is acetanilid a habit-forming drug?” To obtain the necessary data Dr. Boone is “writing to every hospital and sanitarium in the United States.” Examination of the question blank which accompanies the form letter discloses the fact that information is wanted regarding not acetanilid alone, but also antipyrin and acetphenetidin (phenacetin). The last question asked runs as follows:

“If your records [of cases of habitual use of these drugs] are incomplete, would you allow a reputable physician to investigate the above-mentioned cases so that he could write with positiveness about them, and, if necessary, make oath to the truth of his report?” [Italics ours.—Ed.]