Nostrums and quackery : articles on the nostrum evil and quackery reprinted from the Journal of the American Medical Association.

Date:
[1911]
Catalogue details

Licence: In copyright

Credit: Nostrums and quackery : articles on the nostrum evil and quackery reprinted from the Journal of the American Medical Association. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    65/522 (page 61)
    each day. The cancer ointment was to be applied freely on a soft cloth to the ulcer during the day, when the “absorbents” were not on. “Dr. Kimberly testified that chemical analysis of these preparations showed them to be composed as follows: “1. Absorbent Packs No. 7: A mixture composed ©f sand and clay t)8 per cent., animal charcoal 2 per cent. “2. Absorbent Packs No. S: A mixture of sand and clay 97.25 per cent., animal charcoal 2.75 per cent. “3. Cancer and Tumor Tablets: Tablets composed of 98.6 per cent, sugar of milk, and 1.4 per cent, moisture, with a trace of animal charcoal and an agent for holding the sugar of milk in tablet form. “4. Cancer Ointment: A salve consisting of vaseline mixed with oil of tar and a trace of vegetable matter, apparently pdw’dcred Tvitch hazel leaves.” CLAIMS MADE Some of the claims made by the Toxo-Absorbent Company for its product and methods are: “The great drugless treatment.” “The most important medical discovery in the world’s history.” “The only treatment which cures disease by removing the cause.” “The Toxo-Absorbent Cure can be relied on to cure . . . con- sumption . . . Bright’s disease . . . cancer . . .” “Diseases hitherto considered incurable, such as certain forms of cancer, consumption, appendicitis, peritonitis, diphtheria are readily cured.” “The fact is, diphtheria is one of the very simplest and easiest of all diseases to subdue . ,. . Absorbents have never failed of a prompt and complete cure.” “We have found many cases [of cancer] where the removal of the breast had been followed by the recurrence of the cancer Such cases are considered as absolutely fatal and yet the absorbents have succeeded in making a cure in every case.” At the hearing it was shown that it was not possible to make a reliable diagnosis of cancer by having patients fill out a blank form and foiwvard it through the mail. It was further shown that the treatment as exposed by the analysis would not cure “any case of cancer irrespective of its variety, dura- tion and location in the body.” Warner, the manager of the concern, entered a general denial of fraudulent intent but submitted no evidence of the value of the treatment excepting a number of “testimonials.” To quote; “He submitted practically no evidence of the value of the treatment excepting a number of so-called testimonial letters. The effect of these was that the writers had had troubles which they believed to be cancer, had used this Toxo-Absorb- ent Cure, and had been cured. TESTIMONIALS VALUELESS “The mere fact that this advertiser has been able to present as he had done here, a number of so-called testimonial letters of apparent cures of cancer, is, in the light of all the evidence and especially in view of the facts proved by the analysis, of no significance, because of the absence of any satisfactory