Unfortunately the Food and Drugs Act exercises no control over the lying statements that may be made for drugs elsewhere than on the label. So it is that physicians within the last two or three weeks have received a booklet on Phenalgin containing the following assertions for this acetanilid mixture:
“Without the slightest harm, injury or depressing effect.”
“Is never followed by depression.”
“Its prolonged administration does not give rise to destructive blood metamorphosis.”
“Is of great value in the treatment of neuralgia (especially in the anemic.)”
“Freedom from the deleterious action or habit-forming tendencies of the opiates.”
“It aids in destroying the malarial parasite.”
“Safest and most dependable of analgesics.”
It will be seen by this that while the Food and Drugs Act has forced a certain degree of truthfulness on the Phenalgin labels, the advertising matter is as fraudulent and as untruthful as ever it was. It is true that the assertion that it is a synthetic is no longer made, possibly because the medical profession has been so thoroughly enlightened on the much-overworked “synthetic” fraud that the falsehood is no longer profitable. In other respects, the assertions are just as false as ever. It is said to have no depressing effect—and yet it is acetanilid. It is said to produce no habit—and yet it is acetanilid. It is said to have no injurious effect on the blood—and yet it is acetanilid. It is said to be the safest analgesic—and yet it is acetanilid. How long will the medical profession continue to be hoodwinked by means of such transparent falsehoods?
The Phenalgin concern takes much credit to itself because on the cartons in which the bottles of Phenalgin come, it is stated that the product is “for dispensing purposes only.” Yet, as a matter of fact, practically any layman can go to any drug store and obtain this product, for the druggist appraises this spectacular piece of Pecksniffian virtue at its face value—a joke. Why, if intended only for physicians, would it be necessary to include with every bottle a circular naming the diseases, for which this acetanilid mixture is supposed to be good—“headache,” “colds,” “lumbago,” “scanty menstruation,” “pain in any part of the body”—and why is the name of the product and of the firm making it blown into the bottle?