Patent Nonsense

    Today, drug companies thrive because of their patented products, but a century ago, "patent medicines" were little more than bottled hooey.

    The first U.S. patents for so-called "medicines" were issued in the 1790s.

    Manufacturers didn't patent the formulas for their medicines (which, given their contents, they shrewdly kept secret).

    Instead, they took out patents on the shape of the medicine bottle, promotional materials or label information.

    The most famous 19th century patent medicine was "Lydia Pinkham's Vegetable Compound." A brew of herbs and 20 percent alcohol, it promised to cure an array of troubles.

    It lasted two generations and earned testimonials -- even from temperance leaders.

    Other patent medicines contained narcotics. A Sears catalog sold a morpine-based "medicine" to be slipped into a hubby's coffee, the better to keep him home at night.

    In 1906, Congress passed the Pure Food and Drug Act to protect consumers. That was one small step toward today's rigorous testing standards. Those standards mean that drug companies now fight to keep their patents, which last for 20 years from their first filing.

"Patent Nonsense" was adapted from a commentary originally produced for Medicine Chest, a radio program produced by the Higuchi Biosciences Center and the Drug Information Center at the University of Kansas. Medicine Chest airs weekly on fourteen Kansas radio stations.