PATENT MEDICINES.

Press, Volume LXII, Issue 12506, 19 May 1906, Page 3

PATENT MEDICINES.

J j INTERVIEW WITH DR. MASON, j

£ (special to "the rutess.") § WELLINGTON, May 17. §[ A special article in tlxe "New Zealand % Times" this morning refers to patent S medicines and medical quackery. At--3 lent ion is drawn to the abfo articlo by g Dr. S. Hopkins Adams, on tho subject, g in "Colliers Weekly." With Dr. k Adams's array of damnatory facts beC lore him, tho "Now Zealand Times'' 5 representative soughb out Dr. Mason, % head of our Health Department, and g interviewed him on the subject. g Dr. eaid a mistake had boen £ r.iatij by tlio Legislature in using the g v.-ord 'patent,' , as applied to the medig ciiK.s io bo brought uuder oib'cial obg a in the original Act. wjth the 8 that tho power had been considered abiy ri«.«trioted. 'J he Kyal lnterpretas tiou oi "patent niniiciiie" was much $ i narrower man was ortiJiariiy Mippcs-id. 6 In law it meant- nieaie.iuv. tm> ijj tiiou;s of winch had b; : vii composed in jj ai'.-..K;;;nce with tne I'aicuis aci. and ivg.i-.oi-. d with mo Registrar or * l'iu.ii:.-. There was no next to aek a time- lor formula); they wereaheatiy in tho patent oineo. -\s a iiiii!i»'r of fact, there were very iew ■ ■■paieu - .' , invtliuiux> at ail. Tlie term, niiaii-vor it may be, should apply to all mvdicines that tet up an aiivgvd claim to euro a tpecilic disease or ais-erisf-s. All such nos'truins have. JiowevtT, to pay tiie tux tJirough the euatotuii, though not actually "patent, medi-ein-cii." iwiut lie wanted to get at in lfijuiiing r.h j fdrnniloo ot thcee 7Ui vi.ciii-, s was to arrive at the t\-:i;.iKo of tho bottles, and ;-μ-v- tiiat they wer-e as represeivwu iby ill: , lurmuhc. If there lianmnl in thoir character, a permit ; 5n..,!.;! bj allowing th&ir sale. The I ivM by v. uh t:n> public No man had [ ev-'r i-ii.i;;j..-t-cJ t'aat one could .prevent P-'i/p:. 1 pat-enb jn'thiicinee, but ; v.hat tii. iK>aith olfioc-ns could do was to IKWuu- them bfijg ablo to purchaee i ::i Li: .:iy iiuioc!iou-> mixtures, tiiat- were jin f:u-t quir-0 tho reverse. That was ail that was ever asked. Another aspect of tho question discussed was connected with the quack who fat tons en tho frailties of women, tha ignc-iaiioe oi poor, deluded yo-ung-find tho sins of man. "'Hβ exists in every town," remarked Dr. Mason. Not c:i!y did he supply c'neap and nasty ■nostrums, that did no good whatsoever, but ho followed up the "gulls" liko'a sleuth hcu-nd. In tho casa of a youngster, porhaps, who had gone a littlb eff tlu track, he would supply him with I medicine, and then as tho boy's pocket I failed him, and h-o left off eendine*4or j moro etufiE, lie would writ© in a fatherly I manner, and urge upon him that he was just stopping when the "turn" was taking place. No answer coming, this philanthropist now writes ■ihreat-eningly " •to the lad that he must still to ill, and jif ho docs not eend for further s-uppliee, tho writer Trill consider it his duty to inform his parents. Driven , to desperation, that boy Tvould possibly, steal money or goods toelend for more medicine. Dr. Mason said that these quacks will even go so-far as to follow a girl (who may have been in trouble, or just as of ton thought she was) after marriage, and blackmail her under the unsuspecting husband's nose. The result of working so near to the edge of the criminal code had given these scoundrels sufficient skill to keep just within the four corners of the law. The effect of insisting upon their formulee being de-pa-.itr-d would prevent these quacks sanding out medicines that might be 3iar,mful, and perhaps injurious to their deluded'victiine.