To the Editor:—Allow us to direct your attention to several misstatements which appear in the letter signed, “Allen W. Freeman, M.D., Commissioner of Health, State of Ohio,” published in The Journal of the American Medical Association for July 26.
1. Salesmen of this company have not been exhibiting a “letter purporting to show that this department has endorsed their products in the treatment of venereal diseases,” as stated by Dr. Freeman.
2. The author of the letter has not “made numerous efforts to recall the letter, but the Merrell people profess an inability to control its use,” as stated by Dr. Freeman.
A physician employed in one of the clinics used our Proteogens Nos. 10 and 11 extensively and is still using them to a large extent in his private practice. He is a man of standing in the community in which he practices and is also a professor in one of the leading medical colleges in the state.
The letter in question cites the case of a man who had been under treatment for three years with 606, 914 and most of the other treatments in general use, and on August 31, a year ago, still gave a Wassermann test plus 4. He was given Proteogen No. 10, and by the middle of December the Wassermann was negative and the man was discharged as cured.
While this letter was written on the stationery of the Bureau of Venereal Diseases of the Department of Health, State of Ohio, it was written in the first person, and made no pretension in any way to being official nor was any such pretense made or authorized by the Merrell Company.
The author of the letter has not made “numerous efforts to recall the letter,” nor has the Merrell Company “professed an inability to control its use.”
The physician did ask that the letter be returned to him, and his request was complied with promptly.
[Then follows the full text of the letter in question. As its contents have no bearing on the question under discussion, it is omitted.—Ed.]