patent medicine
1
7.6
- noun
- /ˈpætənt ˈmɛdɪsɪn/
- Archaic
:
medicina patentada
- The Pure Food and Drug Act (1906) was aimed at reducing the abuse of patent medicines, which at the time often contained combinations of tincture of opium and cocaine dissolved in alcohol.
Examples
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The promotion of patent medicine often included claims of miraculous cures without any scientific evidence.
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There was no regulation; most drugs were administered by doctors or sold as patent medicines.
Blog text (33) -
"Point number five suggested that one should send for a doctor when sick; don't use patent medicines."
Academic text (1994) -
In the 1930s, synthetic compounds began to supersede patent medicines.
Academic text (1991) -
Herbal knowledge fell into obscurity as urban and rural people turned to patent medicines.
Academic text (1991) -
During much of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, companies regularly advertised patent medicines, which were available without a prescription, directly to consumers in American newspapers.
Academic text (2009) -
Many people in the 19th century relied on patent medicine for ailments instead of consulting a healthcare professional.
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Historical records show that patent medicine was frequently sold at fairs, attracting crowds with promises of health benefits.
How Regulated
Surface Forms
Morphology
The phrase denotes a medicine that is protected by a patent, which is directly derivable from combining 'patent' (exclusive right) and 'medicine' (drug). While historical or pejorative connotations (e.g. cure-alls sold without prescription) are extra cultural/pragmatic information, the core denotation is compositional and therefore accessible to a learner who knows both constituents.
Etymology
The compound noun patent medicine comes from 19th-century sellers who called their secret cure patent to sound official and sold the medicine in bottles as a 'cure-all'. That's why today patent medicine means a medicine sold without a doctor's 'prescription' and often with no real proof that it works.