Facsimile of some of the pages from the booklet that accompanied the letter reproduced herewith. The obvious intent of this booklet was to lead physicians to believe that Succus Cineraria Maritima will cure “Opacity of the Cornea,” “Opacity of the Lens,” “Senile Cataract,” “Incipient Cataract,” “Double Cataract,” etc.
Can one conceive a better illustration of the inadequacy of the Food and Drugs Act? The dishonest exploiter of proprietary medicines cares little that the law requires him to keep within certain bounds of truthfulness in the advertising that accompanies the trade package. It isn’t the claims in the trade packages that sell the product; it’s the advertising in medical journals, in circular letters, etc. Yet, the Food and Drugs Act offers no check or curb on false statements or fraudulent claims made for proprietary or “patent medicines” in any other place than the trade packages.
A few weeks ago The Journal called attention to a flagrant case of fraud; and at that time it said, “It is justifiable to assume that when any man, whatever his business, admits in court that he has made fraudulent claims and then continues to make the same claims through channels that are not controlled by penal enactment, that man’s standard of business ethics is such that the public needs protection against it. There are many such men in the ‘patent medicine’ world. The only way in which the public may properly be protected against being defrauded in such cases is for the federal Food and Drugs Act to have its scope extended to cover all advertising of the products coming under the purview of the act.”—(From The Journal A. M. A., March 17, 1917.)
TEKARKIN
Edward Percy Robinson’s “Cure” for Cancer
From various parts of the country The Journal has received a sixteen page pamphlet, Therapeutic Leaves. The publication, which has a saffron colored cover, is said to be published by the National Bio-Chemical Laboratory, Mount Vernon, N. Y. The National Bio-Chemical Laboratory seems to be a style used by Dr. Edward Percy Robinson. The “editorial offices” of Therapeutic Leaves are given as “501 Knox Bldg., 5th Ave. at 40th St., New York,” which is a roundabout way of describing 452 Fifth Ave., the office address of Edward Percy Robinson. The first number (February, 1921) of Therapeutic Leaves gives the names of the “editors” as “E. P. Robinson, M.D., and W. A. Jenner, B.A.” In addition, there is “Assistant Editor, F. J. Geiger,” and “Gen’l Manager, Beverly K. Robinson.” The first and second numbers of Therapeutic Leaves (February and March, 1921) are practically identical, being evidently printed from the same plates. Therapeutic Leaves purports to be a periodical published as “a medium for the dissemination of knowledge, pertaining to therapeusis.” Actually, it is an advertising medium dealing with the products of the National Bio-Chemical Laboratory: “Osmo-Calcic Solution,” “Tekarkin” and “Osmotic Mangano-Potassic Solution.”
These preparations are said to be the “formulas” of Dr. Edward Percy Robinson who lives in Mt. Vernon, N. Y., and has an office at 452 Fifth Ave., New York City. They are used by Dr. Robinson in the treatment of cancer. At an earlier stage they seem to have been known under different names: “Tekarkin” was first “Hypotonic Sal-Cella” and then “Neoanabolin-X;” “Osmo-Calcic Solution” was “Osmotonic Calcic” while “Osmotic Mangano-Potassic Solution” was “Osmotonic Drops.” The three solutions are put up in one package containing 4 c.c. (about 65 minims) of “Tekarkin” and 1 ounce each of the other preparations. The package sells for $10.00. “Remittance with order ... We have no agents.”
