The regulation and control of the manufacture and sale of food and drugs for infants / by Eric Pritchard.

  • Pritchard, Eric, 1864-1943.
Date:
1908
Catalogue details

Licence: In copyright

Credit: The regulation and control of the manufacture and sale of food and drugs for infants / by Eric Pritchard. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The Royal College of Surgeons of England. The original may be consulted at The Royal College of Surgeons of England.

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    and spread with astonishing rapidity through the rank and file of the profession. Then they become the property of the public who proceed to doctor them- selves. By so doing, not only do we cut our own throats, but we put into the hands of the public a double-edged weapon with which they can perform the same suicidal act for themselves. This is what Mr Rufus Fleming, United States Consul in Edinburgh, explained to his Government in reporting on the trade in proprietary articles in Scotland: —“ In the matter of a new pharmaceutical preparation Edinburgh may follow London opinion, but Scot- land follows only Edinburgh. About six months after trade has become active in this city and vicinity (Edin- burgh) the traffic from the cities and towns in Scotland attain a considerable volume. This wave-like move- ment is the common thing, and its origin and direc- tion are invariable.” Next, let me explain how and in what way the unrestricted sale of secret remedies has a prejudicial effect on the mortality and morbidity of our infant popu- lation. As far as statistics can explain its relation- ship I must admit that there is very little direct proof that a large number of deaths among infants are im- mediately due to the administration of secret or pro- prietary remedies. Only a comparatively small number of cases come under the notice of our coroners. In the Report of the Royal Commission already referred to, Mr Beale adduces authority (Dr W. Murrell) for the statement that i5,ocxd infants are killed annually by those means. This may or may not be an accurate estimate, but in view of the highly dangerous character of the drugs contained in many of the secret remedies, which our law permits to be sold without restrictions, and, in view of the enormous traffic that is conducted in them, the only wonder is, not that the deaths or computed deaths are so great, but that they are not infinitely more numerous. It