A New York-i Egyetem fogászattörténeti múzeum 19. századi kuruzsló gyógyszer gyűjteménye

Quackery in medicine is as old as medicine. In times of crisis, desperate patients believe in extraordinary claims. In the annals of pain killer quack medicine, elixirs, nostrums and liniments hold a preeminent position. The College of Dentistry at NYU received a collection of 234 bottles of nostrums and liniments dating from approximately 1840 through 1940. This article highlights three sets of painkillers that contained morphine, opium or were considered being “electric or magnetic”. The exaggerated nature of the curative claims, the dangerous and addictive content of the drugs led the US Congress in 1906 to ban many of such substances and introduce The Pure Food and Drug Act. In spite of such measures, 100+ years later quack medicine is alive and well thanks to the internet and social media.