“‘I prescribed the usual quantity of bromidia,’ the young man’s father told a reporter. ‘He was weak and had suffered from weak heart and kidney trouble for some time.’
“An hour later the father found the son dying and administered restoratives, but to no avail.”
A circular, “The Advantages of Bromidia,” makes it plain how physicians come to use a preparation like Bromidia without consideration of its potent constituent. In this circular the presence of chloral is at first frankly admitted, then it is suggested that in the combination the evil effects of chloral are completely eliminated and in the end the impression is left that Bromidia is practically innocuous. Thus at the beginning while arguing that Bromidia is better than extemporaneous preparations the chloral content is plainly acknowledged:
“In the untoward effects so frequently attending the use of extemporaneously prepared mixtures of chloral and the bromides, may be found the reason for BROMIDIA’S preference when the need for a hypnotic agent arises. Were it not for the well known disadvantages of these drugs which become still more marked with their continued use, there could be no special need for such a preparation as BROMIDIA (Battle), for the therapeutic powers of chloral and the bromides are among the most positive facts in medicine.”
Again:
“It was to meet the growing professional demand for a combination of chloral and the bromides with their evil effects eliminated, that led to the manufacture of BROMIDIA (Battle).”
Then, suggesting the indiscriminate use of Bromidia—as an entity as Dr. Wood suggests—the claim is made that:
“... its constituents have been chosen with a view of enabling Bromidia to meet every requirement for an agent of its class.”
“Owing to the exceptional purity of its component parts and its freedom from untoward effects when continued over long periods, this product will be found of the highest utility in epilepsy.”