patent medicines
Unproven proprietary cures
Patent medicines are proprietary remedies sold directly to consumers, historically without proven efficacy or disclosed ingredients.
The term dates from an era before modern drug regulation, when manufacturers marketed cure-alls with secret formulas and extravagant claims: Grandpa swore by patent medicines for everything from baldness to bad digestion.
The phrase now suggests quackery or snake oil.
- quacksPhony doctors or duck calls
- snake oil salesmanFraudulent remedy peddler
- sarsaparillaRoot-flavored soft drink
- bittersBotanical cocktail flavoring
- nostrumUnproven pet remedy
drugs · tonics · huckster · carnival barker · elixir · snake oil · laudanum · opium dens · cure-all · remedy · tincture · pseudoscience · labeling laws · liniment · miracle cures · placebo effect · syrup · panacea
- Victorianaseances, Dickens, spiritualism, Sherlock Holmes, phrenology
- apothecarypharmacy, apothecary, drugstore, dispensary, pharmacist
- old medicinebloodletting, leeches, leech therapy, leeching, cupping
- old remediescalomel, laudanum, tartar emetic, nostrum, cure-all
- pharmacy historyapothecary, druggist, pharmacopoeia, compounding, apothecaries
- quack curessnake oil, elixirs, tonics, laudanum, magnetic therapy
patent medicinesprescription medications
Drugs needing medical authorization
prescription drugs · evidence-based medicine · controlled substances
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