Am.  Jour.  Pharm.  ) 
Sept.  1,  1874.  J 
Editorial. 
445 
legitimate  estimates  of  the  retail  drug  business.  It  is  a  temptation  to  the 
physician  to  prescribe  more  frequently  than  he  otherwise  would,  and  thus- 
defraud  the  patient  by  forcing  him  to  make  unnecessary  purchases.  It  is  a 
base  advantage  to  take  of  a  man  of  limited  means,  for  he  not  only  has  to  buy- 
needless  medicines,  but  also  to  pay  more  for  them  thau  he  otherwise  would. 
"  We  have  been  told  that  medical  societies  will  not  take  any  steps  in  this 
matter,  because,  if  not  the  majority,  many  very  influential  members  practice 
this  discreditable  custom,  and  are  bound  to  sustain  it,  or  at  least  to  shield  it. 
Then  let  the  Legislatures  of  the  States  enact  laws  forbidding  it.  This  has- 
been  done  in  some  parts  of  Europe,  and  severe  penalties  are  incurred  by  those 
who  violate  these  statutes." 
The  highwayman,  who  boldly  steps  up  to  his  intended  victim  demanding  his 
purse,  is  virtuous  in  comparison  to  those,  who,  sneak-like,  rob  the  trusting 
customer,  under  the  pretense  of  necessity  for  prescribing,  and  of  fair  and 
honest  charges  for  the  prescribed  medicines.  In  our  opinion,  the  apothecary 
who  pays  this  filthy  spoil  is  morally  as  culpable  as  the  physician  who  exacts 
the  booty;  one  acts  as  the  agent  for  his  master,  and  both  being  directly 
benefitted,  it  matters  little  which  one  is  the  decoy  in  any  particular  case.  But 
what  strikes  us  as  deserving  af  particular  attention  in  the  above  quotation  is 
the  charge  against  medical  societies  and  many  of  their  influential  members. 
We  hope  that,  although  this  corrupt  practice  may  not  be  uncommon,  it  has  no- 
gained  such  dimensions  as  to  be  beyond  the  reach  of  the  medical  and  pharma- 
ceutical societies,  and  we  must  say  that  during  a  period  of  a  quarter  of  a 
century  we  have  had  cognizance  of  but  few  cases  of  such  collusion  and 
extortion.  Though  laws  bearing  on  this  fraud  can  do  no  harm,  and  may,  to 
some  extent,  serve  to  check  it,  yet  we  expect  far  better  results  from  the  united 
action  of  the  societies  of  both  professions,  from  an  inculcation  of  the  principles 
of  professional  honesty  and  fair  dealing,  and  from  a  strict  adherence  to  the 
adopted  codes  of  ethics. 
The  Position  of  Colleges  of  Pharmacy  towards  Patent  Medicines  and 
Adulterations  has  been  defined  by  Mr.  Samuel  M.  Colcord,  President  of  the 
Massachusetts  College  of  Pharmacy,  in  a  speech  made  to  the  Massachusetts 
Medical  Society  at  the  annual  meeting  held  in  June  last.  We  quote  from  the 
Boston  Medical  and  Surgical  Journal  the  passages  referring  to  the  above 
subject,  and  commend  them  to  the  attention  of  our  readers  : 
"We  are  endeavoring  to  raise  pharmacy  to  the  dignity  of  a  profession.  We 
believe  it  to  be  for  the  benefit  of  your  profession  and  the  public  that  this 
should  be  done.  We  believe  that  the  drug  business  requires  it ;  that  great 
changes  have  taken  place  in  it,  of  late  years,  but  not  the  best  changes.  We 
believe  that  something  better  ought  to  greet  the  view  of  a  customer  upon  enter- 
ing a  modern  drug  store  than  a  marble  monument  suggestive  of  Mount  Au- 
burn, although  filled  with  delicious  beverages,  or  a  case  of  Humphrey's  homoeo- 
pathic specifics,  the  sale  of  which  is  based  upon  the  theory  of  no  cure  no  harm. 
But  the  imposing  feature  of  the  store  is  proprietary  medicines,  in  which  form 
more  than  two-thirds  of  all  the  medicine  in  this  country  is  dispensed.  A 
demand  has  been  made  for  them,  and  commercial  apothecaries  supply  the 
demand.  I  have  never  had  time  to  read  the  list  of  all  the  diseases  they  are 
said  to  cure,  and  I  know  of  no  disease  they  do  not  claim  to  cure.    Still,  I 
