The quantity of guaiac (as resin) is but a fraction of 1 per cent. Yet it is said to impart to Formitol Tablets “stimulant resolvent” properties and it is intimated that there is sufficient to be of value in “cases of abscess of the throat and inflammation of the tissues.”
The total acidity indicates the presence of about 2 per cent. of citric acid or 1⁄4 grain per tablet. Yet this amount is said to be “antiseptic” and “aids in the general results.”
While the presence of the drug hyoscyamus (henbane) was not positively identified by microscopic examination, alkaloids were present.
The manufacturers claim that the tablets contain menthol yet only a suggestion of menthol could be obtained from the odor. However, the odor of methyl salicylate—a constituent not declared in the “formula”—predominated throughout the operations of analysis.
Formitol Tablets furnish a good illustration of some well established but often ignored truths:
1. “Formulas” that are nonquantitative are valueless or worse than valueless.
2. The fact that a manufacturer puts certain drugs in a mixture, is no proof that these drugs are there when the mixture reaches the patient. The physician must be assured that they are there when he prescribes them.
3. Complex mixtures should be avoided. It is absurd to expect, as is claimed in the case of Formitol Tablets, anodyne, antiseptic, astringent, expectorant, and resolvent action all at the same time.—(From The Journal A. M. A., June 19, 1920.)