Abstract
SOME of the facts revealed in this book will come as a surprise to many people. Patent medicines is a convenient misnomer for remedies the reputation and sale of which depends more upon advertisement than upon proved efficacy. The name of the remedy is protected as a trade mark, and vast sums are spent on making the name a household word. These advertisements enjoy remarkable legal privileges, including specific exemption from the Foods and Drugs Act. The publication of fictitious testimonials from bogus physicians is common practice and quite legal. The use of fictitious testimonials from real physicians is less common, but a physician who sued a firm for this offence lost his case.
Patent Medicines
By Prof. A. J. Clark. ("Fact", No. 14.) Pp. 98. (London: "Fact", 1938.) 6d
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G., J. Patent Medicines. Nature 142, 186–187 (1938). https://doi.org/10.1038/142186a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/142186a0
