9. Patent medicines were often toxic
In many ways the compounds which came to be known as patent medicines gave birth to the modern advertising industry, introducing techniques still in use, such as implying government approval and the support of medical doctors for a product. People relied on daily tonics for increased vigor throughout the day, often getting it from a combination of narcotics and alcohol. Another popular patent medicine was irradiated water, which contained traces of radium and was marketed as Radithor, a cure for everything from headaches to diabetes. At least one known death is traceable to consumption of Radithor, which was a popular medicine and tonic for well over a decade after it was introduced in 1918. Its creator became quite wealthy from its sales.
With no government intervention and little self-regulation, the patent medicine business foisted upon the public nostrums and devices which could be dangerous and sometimes deadly. Many medications were mixed by chemists and pharmacists using whatever recipes they created and whatever was at hand. Alcohol was nearly always used, as was codeine, morphine, opium, cocaine, and other highly toxic drugs. It took journalists to reveal the often fraudulent claims and questionable business practices of the patent medicine business, which undoubtedly killed many men, women, and children before the government was spurred to action. Some of the original patent medicines survive today, though no longer marketed as medicine, including 7 Up, Dr. Pepper, and Coca-Cola, as well as Graham crackers and Grape-Nuts cereal.