A great show of frankness was recently made by a certain "patent medicine." The makers advertised that they had concluded to take the public into their confidence, and that thereafter they would print a formula of the medicine on each bottle manufactured.
"There is nothing secretive about our medicine," was the cry. "We have nothing to hide. Here is the formula. Show it to your physician."
Then comes the formula: This herb and that herb, this ingredient and that ingredient, and the formula winds up, "etc." All good, old-fashioned, well recognized drugs were those which were mentioned—all except the "etc."
A certain Board of Pharmacy had never heard of a drug called "etc.," and so made up Its mind to find out.
And the "etc." was found to be 3.76 per cent of cocain!—just the simple, death-dealing cocain!—From The Ladies' Home Journal, February, 1906.
PATENT MEDICINE CONCERNS AND LETTER BROKERS.
One of the most disgusting and disgraceful features of the patent medicine business is the marketing of letters sent by patients to patent medicine firms. Correspondence is solicited by these firms under the seal of sacred confidence. When the concern is unable to do further business with a patient it disposes of the patient's correspondence to a letter-broker, who, in turn, disposes of it to other patent medicine concerns at the rate of half a cent, for each letter.
This Information was made public by Mark Sullivan in the Ladies' Home Journal for January, 1906.
IMAGE ==>
An advertisement showing how the names to orders sent to "Patent Medicine" concerns are offered for sale or rent to be used by others.