Dorothy Brush "Random Thoughts" Published July 20, 2005

A lot more goes into medicine than just the bottle

In early October 1982 I was attending a meeting in Minneapolis. We had just finished lunch when one of our speakers was called away for a phone call. She returned shortly, obviously upset, and said she had to leave because there was a crisis at her company.

Later that day we learned that indeed it was a serious crisis for Johnson and Johnson. People had died from taking Tylenol. Investigation proved that some capsules had been laced with cyanide. The company acted quickly, recalling and destroying 31 million capsules at a cost of $100 million.

A standard was set for handling bad news. The company's CEO appeared in ads, television interviews and press conferences. Soon afterward they introduced tamper-resistant packaging and Tylenol sales made a swift recovery. This case differs from so many of today's corporate scandals in that the criminal act was outside the company.

Today pharmaceutical producers suffer from credibility problems because of their inflated claims in advertising. Not only inflated but false and misleading. Truth be told, this is nothing new. Long before there were drug companies, "cure alls" were offered by questionable characters out to make a quick buck.

This deceptive practice began in the 19th century and continued into the early 20th century. During the Jacksonian era it really expanded. Before traveling medicine shows became the rage, medicating the sick was left to mothers and grandmothers who used their special home remedies. Doctors were at a premium in those days but as more and more deadly diseases appeared it became clear that home remedies were not the answer.

Profit beckoned and entrepreneurs responded. They bottled and sold medicines they said were based on old "family recipes." There were no regulations or testing so anything could be sold. These clever hucksters named these concoctions patent medicines. That claim was false because they were not patented but it sounded good and the public bought it.

Finally Congress became involved and in 1848 passed an act prohibiting adulteration of drugs but it was not until 1890 that they added a similar act for food. From 1880 to 1906 one hundred three bills were introduced to control interstate traffic of food and drugs. Pres. Teddy Roosevelt signed the Pure Food and Drug Act in 1906.

Though a step in the right direction the act was full of loopholes hindering enforcement. The maximum fine for the first offense was a paltry $200 and for additional offenses $300 plus a year in prison.

When over 73 people died from a drug in 1937 because the law did not prohibit distribution of poison or dangerous drugs, legislators felt the pressure and in 1938 they acted and added those words as well as prohibiting foods from being produced in unsanitary conditions or placed in adulterated containers. Finally in 1955 comprehensive legislation resulted in establishing the Food and Drug Administration, the FDA.

Even this has not been the complete answer. Exaggerated advertising is the norm but the FDA lacks the power to fine companies for misleading. Their strongest action is sending a warning letter to the company.

Shocking as it is that legislators have been so slow to act in food and drug matters a new threat has been added. Criminals have gained a foothold in intercepting drug deliveries. They have active operations set-up in clandestine, unsanitary warehouses. There they change the strength of the drugs, repackage them and send them on their way to unsuspecting pharmacies while they count the profits.

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Dorothy Copus Brush is a Fairfield Glade resident and Crossville Chronicle staffwriter whose column is published each Wednesday.