Certain forms of headache yield more readily to a mixture of caffein and acetanilid or caffein and acetphenetidin than to either acetanilid or acetphenetidin alone. When the physician wishes to prescribe such a mixture he may combine 1 grain of caffein or 2 grains of citrated caffein with 3 grains of acetanilid or 4 grains of acetphenetidin in a powder or capsule. Under supervision such a dose may be repeated at intervals of from two to four hours if necessary to control pain. It is necessary to remember, however, that when small doses fail to give relief, increase in the dose is useless. This fact is especially important, and disregard or ignorance of it has been responsible for many cases of poisoning. Further, it should be remembered that while it was taught for many years that the admixture of caffein with acetanilid lessened the effect of the latter drug on the heart, Hale has shown that this is not the case and such mixtures must be used with special caution.—(From The Journal A. M. A., Feb. 2, 1918.)
[Article VI]
Fellows’ Syrup, and Other Preparations of the Hypophosphites
We hope that it is clear to those who have read the several articles of this series that their purpose is to present evidence that will enable the reader to form a correct estimate of the literature employed in the exploitation of various nostrums. The distinction between mere assertion—however plausible, and from however eminent an authority—and evidence should again be emphasized. Satisfactory evidence rests on careful observation by those who are capable of accurately determining to what extent any changes that may be observed are due to the therapeutic agent employed and not mere accompaniments of such treatment.
When the Council on Pharmacy and Chemistry was organized in 1905, the greater part of the literature of the nostrums was so palpably misleading, the statements often so ludicrously false, that it was only necessary to call attention to this fact to have those claims collapse. As a result of the Council’s work, the exploiters of worthless nostrums have developed a greater degree of shrewdness in avoiding the easily exploded falsehoods. This has made it increasingly difficult to point out the exact statements on which many of the false claims now rest, even though the exploitation as a whole is as inherently dishonest as before. If a nostrum is worthless, any exploitation must be false and misleading in effect, even though not one single false direct statement is made.
A platitude may be given an appearance of importance if uttered in an impressive manner, and it may be employed to suggest far more than it categorically affirms. These two facts are appreciated by many nostrum exploiters and we find that they have adopted the impressive manner to secure attention, and the platitude to suggest far more than they could defend in direct statement. Thus we have the “lie with circumstance.”
FELLOWS’ SYRUP
A full page advertisement, which has been appearing regularly for about a year and which must represent a good deal of money, is used to give an appearance of importance to a few words which, if printed in ordinary type, would either pass wholly unnoticed or would lead one to assume that something essential to the full meaning had been omitted. The statement, in full reads: