“In our September issue, Gray’s Glycerine Tonic Comp. was inadvertently included in a list that seemed to be under the ban of the Government and very likely an injustice has been done the Purdue Frederick Company which we desire to undo as far as possible.”
Did the editor mean by “inadvertently included,” that he would have omitted “Gray’s Glycerine Tonic” from the government’s list had he noticed it in time? If so, on what grounds? It is a fact that “Gray’s Glycerine Tonic” was one of the “Fifty Falsely Labeled Medicines”; it is also a fact that it is one of the products that government officials and the federal courts have declared to be sold under claims that are “false, fraudulent and misleading.” If “Gray’s Glycerine Tonic” was fraudulently exploited—and the government and the courts have so declared it—why is it necessary for the editor of a medical journal to apologize to his subscribers for having told them so?—(Editorial from The Journal A. M. A., Jan. 1, 1916.)
HAGEE’S CORDIAL OF COD LIVER OIL
“Under the deceptive heading ‘Making Cod Liver Oil Palatable,’ the Charlotte Medical Journal in its December issue prints a boost for ‘Cord. Ext. Ol. Morrhuae Comp. (Hagee),’ or, as it is generally known to the drug trade, ‘Hagee’s Cordial of Cod Liver Oil.’
“The boost intimates that this is a preparation in which cod liver oil has in some way been rendered palatable, and then goes on to say that this is a cod liver oil product which has not suffered the least loss of those essential elements which make the crude oil such a high-class reconstructive.
“At first sight one might question whether a cod liver oil product which contains absolutely no cod liver oil had not suffered the loss of essential elements. But a closer reading discloses a significant qualification, namely, the phrase, ‘those elements which make the crude oil such a high-class reconstructive.’
“The boost is misleading from beginning to end. The manufacturers have not succeeded in this preparation in ‘making cod liver oil palatable,’ nor does their preparation in any way possess the virtues of cod liver oil. These claims have again and again been refuted, but they continue to be published—at a price but rarely in reputable medical journals.”
The above is quoted from the Weekly Bulletin of the Department of Health of the City of New York. The Bulletin is issued for the enlightenment of the public.—(From The Journal A. M. A., Jan. 8, 1916.)