CYPRIDOL CAPSULES
Report of the Council on Pharmacy and Chemistry
Having voted that Cypridol Capsules be refused recognition, the Council directed that for the information of physicians publication of the following report be authorized.
W. A. Puckner, Secretary.
Cypridol Capsules, sold by E. Fougera & Co., New York, are stated to be “Bottled in the New York Laboratories of Vial, late Rigaud and Chapoteaut, Paris,” and to contain, in each capsule, 2 mg. (1⁄32 grain) mercuric iodid (biniodid of mercury) dissolved in a fatty oil. They are claimed to permit the administration of mercury without danger of salivation—an obvious misrepresentation.[21] Cypridol Capsules are marketed in a way to appeal to the public. If they are once prescribed, the directions on the bottle and the full instructions for the treatment of syphilis by means of Cypridol and by other proprietaries sold by Fougera & Co. is likely to lead the patient to attempt the treatment of this malady on his own accord, and thus probably to forfeit his chances of cure. Cypridol is a vicious example of the “ready-to-take” proprietaries.
Cypridol Capsules are in conflict with the rules of the Council as follows:
Rule 4: The dosage, price, etc., on the label, and the name “Cypridol” blown in the bottle, all tend to a direct self-prescribing by the public. In addition to the objectionable statements on the bottle itself, the preparation is put up in patent medicine style and is accompanied by a circular giving full directions for the use of this and of other proprietaries for the treatment of syphilis in all of its stages. The circular states that “a 1 per cent. solution of bin-iodide of mercury in an aseptic oil” is “An Improved Specific in the Treatment of Syphilis,” and after lauding the virtues of Cypridol, gives full directions for the treatment of syphilis in its various stages by means of Capsules of Cypridol augmented, during periodical cessation of treatment, by “small doses of iodide of strontium (Paraf-Javal’s standard solution, thirty grains to the ounce).” Further, the circular expounds the need of “a toning up of the general system” and by means of obsolete theories and obviously untrue assertions recommends “Chapoteaut’s Wine [another of their proprietary preparations], each ounce of which contains 10 grains of phospho-glycerate of lime. This is a delicious, nutritive tonic. A pint bottle costs $1.00.”
Rule 6: Whereas it is evident that Cypridol, depending for its effects on mercuric iodid, the ordinary well-known hydrargyri iodidum rubrum of the U. S. Pharmacopeia, must naturally have the properties of a mercuric compound, unwarranted claims such as the following are made:
“CYPRIDOL does not render patients anemic. Ptyalism never follows the administration of the capsules or injections. On the contrary, patients rapidly put on flesh and keep well. There are no diarrhoeas or other symptoms of intolerance even when the dose is pushed.”