The regular stated meeting of the Philadelphia Branch of the American
Pharmaceutical Association was held on the evening of Friday, January 4,
1907, and was attended by 63 members and visitors.
The minutes of the previous meeting were read and declared approved.
The Committee on Sunday Closing and the Committee on State Legislation
made preliminary reports that were received and ordered filed.
On behalf of the Committee on State Legislation Mr. Cliffe said that
members of the committee had had an opportunity to confer with the
members of a special committee of the State Legislature on the subject
and that a joint conference of members of committees interested in the
enactment of a State Food and Drug Law would be held at the Philadelphia
College of Pharmacy on the evening of Tuesday, January 15, 1907.
The regular program for the evening was then proceeded with. This
consisted of a discussion of “The Debasing Influences of Fraudulent
Nostrums.”
The first communication, by Dr. Solomon Solis Cohen, was devoted to the
consideration of “Secrecy and Fraud as Deterring Factors to the Progress
of Medicine.” Dr. Cohen, in the course of his remarks, said that
progress means an ascent from little or no knowledge to knowledge, and
from knowledge to greater knowledge. Secrecy is the withholding of
knowledge and breeds ignorance, while fraud is even worse than ignorance
in that it is designed to mislead.
Dr. Cohen also asserted that therapeutics was difficult enough under the
most favorable conditions and that in cases where a physician is
confronted with secrecy or fraud, in the statements made in connection
with medicinal preparations, he is likely to be misled himself and to do
untold harm to his patients.
In concluding, the speaker referred to a number of specific preparations
which have been discovered to differ materially in composition from what
was claimed for them. He also expressed the hope that the Federal Pure
Food and Drugs Law would be instrumental in leading manufacturers to
more duly appreciate the need for a greater degree of honesty in the
exploitation of their wares. If pharmacy is to make progress and if
medicine is to make progress it will necessitate a full and complete
knowledge of the composition and action of the substances used in the
treatment of diseases.
The next communication, by Dr. Henry Leffmann, dealt with: “Known and
Unknown Changes in the Composition of well-known Nostrums.”
Dr. Leffmann said that the question of secrecy was one of the most
intricate problems and one that involved a number of factors.
Secrecy in connection with nostrums, the composition of which was known
only to some one or more individuals, but not to all was an
objectionable feature and frequently led to arbitrary and in many
instances dangerous changes in the composition and the action of
nostrums.
Dr. Leffmann then called attention to a number of specific instances in
which it was known that changes had been made in the composition of
widely advertised nostrums and also pointed out how these changes might
be injurious to the consumer.
“Criminal Responsibility in the Sale of Abortifacients” was the subject
matter of the communication by Dr. Henry Beates, Jr.
Dr. Beates referred to the various statutes relating to the use, sale or
distribution of abortifacients and condemned, in no uncertain terms, the
practice of advertising, in lay journals, articles designed to prevent
conception or to produce abortion. He held that additional publicity
might well be given to the serious nature of the questions involved, and
urged that steps be taken to prevent the use of the United States mails
by newspapers and magazines publishing advertisements of abortifacients
or of instruments designed to prevent conception.
Dr. John B. Roberts, in opening the general discussion of the question,
asserted that there certainly could be no difference of opinion on the
degrading influences of practices that, as had been shown by the
previous speakers, tended to convert pharmacists and pharmaceutical
manufacturers into liars and medical practitioners into frauds and
fakirs.
The subject matter was further discussed by Dr. Henry W. Cattell, Dr. F.
E. Stewart, Dr. C. B. Lowe and Messrs. Remington, LaWall, Turner, Thum,
Beringer, Vanderkleed, Cable, Westcott, Wilbert and Cliffe.
Mr. Cliffe presented the following resolutions, which, on motion, were
unanimously adopted:
_Resolved_ that the Philadelphia Branch of the American Pharmaceutical
Association condemns the advertisement in drug journals, magazines and
newspapers of abortifacient medicines and deprecates their sale by
reputable pharmacists.
_Resolved_ that all members of this branch be urged to exclude such
medicines and articles from their stocks.
The secretary then read a communication entitled “Objectionable Side
Lines to the Practice of Medicine,” specifically mentioning several
profit-sharing and stock-distributing schemes that are now doing
business in the city of Philadelphia.
This communication was, on motion, directed to be forwarded to the
Secretary of the Philadelphia County Medical Society with the offer to
submit additional evidence to the officials of that organization.
There being no further business the meeting was declared adjourned.