Am.  jour.  Pharm.)  American  Pharmaceutical  Association.  SSS 
November,  1908.  ) 
AMERICAN  PHARMACEUTICAL  ASSOCIATION. 
[Continued  from  page  5/0.] 
Prescription  Nostrums. 
By  Lyman  F.  Kebler. 
The  author  calls  attention  to  a  scheme  which  is  intended  to 
deceive  the  more  enlightened  public  and  evade  the  provisions  of 
the  Food  and  Drugs  Act  of  June  30,  1906.  The  scheme  consists 
essentially  of  the  publication  in  newspapers  of  advertisements  ex- 
tolling the  virtues  of  certain  remedies  in  the  treatment  of  specific 
diseases.  The  prescription  or  recipe  for  the  remedy  is  published 
in  the  advertisements,  is  furnished  by  the  advertiser  upon  applica- 
tion without  cost,  the  understanding  being  that  it  can  be  filled  by 
any  local  druggist.  The  prescription,  however,  always  contains  at 
least  one  product  bearing  a  unique  coined  name,  the  nature  and 
composition  of  which  is  known  only  to  the  advertiser,  the  manu- 
facturer, or  parties  interested  in  furthering  the  sale  of  the  remedy. 
As  a  result  the  local  druggist  is  either  unable  to  compound  the 
prescription  or  in  doing  so,  he  is  compelled  to  use  a  product  usually 
composed  of  simple  well-known  ingredients  which  must  be  obtained 
from  the  parties  interested  in  promoting  the  sale  of  the  remedy. 
In  connection  with  this  paper  the  following  resolution  was  offered 
which  subsequently  received  the  approval  of  the  Association  at  the 
general  session  on  Saturday  morning. 
The  American  Pharmaceutical  Association  founded  in  Eighteen 
Hundred  and  Fifty-two,  in  Convention  assembled,  representing  the 
best  sentiments  of  professional,  scientific,  educational  and  commer- 
cial pharmacy,  would  respectfully  submit  to  the  editors  and  managers 
of  the  secular  press  that  the  respect  of  the  more  intelligent  classes 
of  society,  for  the  press,  is  being  certainly  and  most  unfortunately 
lowered,  and  that  its  beneficent  influence  thereby  greatly  lessened 
because  of  the  publication  of  medicinal  recipes  couched  in  false  and 
misleading  language,  and  printed  in  misleading  form  which  are 
placed  in  locations  calculated  to  help  in  the  deception  of  exploiting 
proprietary  nostrums  as  regular  non-protected  medicines. 
Matter  of  this  kind  received  and  paid  for  as  advertisement  is 
allowed  to  appear  as  editorial  advice  upon  medical  treatment,  the 
editors  and  managers  appearing  to  assume  responsibility  therefor, 
thus  betraying  the  confidence  of  readers  in  the  integrity  of  the  press. 
