PATENT MEDICINE

Southland Times, Issue 21849, 28 October 1932, Page 7

PATENT MEDICINE

MISLEADING ADVERTISEMENTS. MINISTERIAL STATEMENT. (From Our Parliamentary Reporter.) Wellington, October 27. A statement that an important part of the Ministerial reply had been suppressed in an advertisement which had purported to quote the reply was made in an urgent question addressed by Mr W. E. Barnard (L., Napier) to the Minister of Health in the House of Representatives this afternoon. Mr Barnard said that a showcard had been used stating that when the question of the danger of a certain patent medicine which was alleged to contain segments of live tape worms was raised by Mr Barnard the Minister had said that investigation had been carried out by the Health Department and it had been found that the preparation contained no such ingredient as suggested. He asked the Minister if he had seen this advertisement and if he had did he not consider that it was misleading in that the important part of the reply had been suppressed, namely that the preparation was subtle in its influence and should be taken only under medical advice. He also asked the Minister to take appropriate action to prevent the display of such misleading advertisements. The Minister said that the advertisement had used words which were not used by him in his reply. He would take steps to communicate with the firm and point out that the advertisement did not accurately convey what he had said. He would inquire as to his powers to suppress advertisements of the nature complained of.