Quackery: Patent Medicines

The age of quackery in the United States may have reached a fever pitch in the 1800’s with the rise of Patent Medicines. These patent medicines were essentially made-up concoctions of various materials, often in liquid form that were used to cure maladies. The hallmark of these “medications” was that they were NOT patented and the name patent came from the fact that they were “endorsed” by customers who were often very influential people and in cases royalty where a letter patent may have been provided. They were not patented by any regulatory agency and were directly marketed to the public without a prescription. The ingredients in these medicines was often a mystery and in some cases dangerous. Most contained a significant amount of alcohol, and many more had very harmful components such as pitch tar, herbal extracts, snake oil, and even opium. The patent medicines marketed to children were even more problematic and often contained addictive ingredients and other materials that could harm a developing brain. 

Several factors coalesced in the early 1900s to make this problem so rampant that the United States government got involved in regulations. The patent medicine Industry was huge and the public was beginning to understand that people were being harmed by these so-called medicines. Newspaper reporters gave testimony to these harmful practices and other people analyzed the medication in these patent medicines to show how harmful they were. There was also exposure in Upton Sinclair’s novel: “The Jungle” about how the meat packing industry practiced unsanitary conditions. It was also shown how chemicals were used to mask the problems in food items. The public was ready for reform and in 1906 the Pure Food Act was signed into law by Theodore Roosevelt. The 1906 Pure Food Act regulated food and medicines that were transported across state lines. It mandated a complete description and labeling of all food and medication. It also stated that there was a requirement that the ingredients were safe. Furthermore, there was enforcement of these regulations by the United States Department of Agriculture, Bureau of Chemistry that later became the Food and Drug Administration or FDA. 

There are still gaps in the system that we should be aware of. A notable example is the use of supplements and complementary medicine.  These are still largely unregulated.  As a consequence of this, we need to be vigilant as consumers to understand the evidence behind these medications.