APPENDIX
Patent Medicines[11]
The term "patent medicine" is loosely used to designate all remedies of a secret, non-secret, or proprietary character, which are widely advertised to the public. This use of the name is erroneous, and it is better first to understand the exact difference between the different classes of medicines generally comprised under this heading. Only in this way can one comprehend their right and wrong use.
A Patent Medicine is a remedy which is patented. In order to secure this patent, an exact statement of the ingredients and the mode of manufacture must be filed with the government. These true "patent medicines" are generally artificial products of chemical manufacture, such as phenacetin. The very fact of their being patented makes them non-secret, and if an intelligent idea is held of their nature and mode of action, they may be properly used. Physicians with a full knowledge of their uses, limitations, and dangers often, and legitimately, prescribe them, and thus used they are the safest and most useful of all drugs and compounds of this class.
A Nostrum.—The Century Dictionary defines a nostrum as "a medicine the ingredients of which, and the methods of compounding them, are kept secret for the purpose of restricting the profits of sale to the inventor or proprietor." Some nostrums have stated, on their label, the names of their ingredients, but not the amount. There has been no restriction upon their manufacture or sale in this country, therefore the user has only the manufacturer's statement as to the nature of the medicine and its uses, and these statements, in many instances, have been proved utterly false and unreliable.
A Proprietary Medicine is a non-secret compound which is marketed under the maker's name. This is usually done because the manufacturer claims some particular merit in his product and its mode of preparation, and as these drugs are perfectly ethical and largely used by physicians, it is to the maker's interest to maintain his reputation for the purity and accuracy of the drug. Familiar instances of this class are: Squibb's Ether and Chloroform, and Powers & Weightman's Quinine.
From the above definition it may be seen that the only unreliable medicines are those which are, in reality, nostrums. In regard to all of these medicines the following rules should be observed:
First.—Don't use any remedy that does not show its formula on the label.
Second.—No matter what your confidence in the medicine, or how highly recommended it is, consult a physician before using very much of it.