THE PURE FOOD AND DRUGS ACT 355 



PROBLEM IX. HOW DOES THE PURE FOOD AND DRUGS 



ACT WORK? 



Project. Make a collection of the labels of patent medicines and 

 classify each under one of the heads in the following paragraphs. 

 Report in class. 



Project. Make a collection of free samples of patent medicines 

 and classify under the heads found in the following paragraphs. 



Drugs. A certain proportion of people are addicted to the use 

 of drugs found in patent medicines. A glance at the street-car 

 advertisements shows this. As is pointed out by Dr. Arthur J. 

 Cramp of the American Medical Association, the United States 

 patent office requires that in order to patent an article it must be 

 both new and useful. This requirement would automatically pre- 

 vent the patenting of practically all so-called " patent medicines " 

 because they are usually combinations of drugs that have long 

 been used by the medical profession and frequently given up 

 by reputable physicians in favor of more effective or safer drugs. 

 Patent medicines depend upon secrecy and mystery for their very 

 existence. Hence they are not patented at all, for if they were 

 their formulae would be open. The Pure Food and Drugs Act has 

 at least caused some of the harmful products used in the formula 

 to be placed on the label so that people who buy may know what 

 they are getting. 



Bracers. Most of the medicines advertised contain alcohol in 

 greater quantity than beer or wine, and many of them have habit- 

 forming drugs in their composition. Not only are many " sarsapa- 

 rillas " and " bitters " put on the market, but they are often sold 

 to persons who are opposed to alcohol. A dose of one of these 

 medicines usually contains about as much alcohol as the same 

 amount of whisky. Such " bracers," as the American Medical 

 Association have called this type of medicine, are of course habit- 

 formers. Any one who begins to take them will soon become 

 dependent upon them. 



Heart depressants. Another kind of medicine commonly sold 

 is the poison acetanilid (as-et-an'i-lid), a powerful heart depres- 

 sant contained, even at the present time, in a good many of the 

 so-called headache powders. Although the Pure Food and Drugs 



