The Everlasting Pill

Posted by Miss Cellania in Medicine on July 11, 2009 at 12:15 am


Wouldn’t it nice if one dose of medicine could be used over and over? The was the premise behind the everlasting cathartic pill. It was made of metal, and leeched out antimony as it passed through the digestive system, aiding in the elimination of parasites. It was billed as a cathartic, or laxative as we would say today. And the pill could be recycled! According to a 1907 pharmaceutical guide:

The bullet was passed out, recovered from the feces and used over and over again. This, as Dr. J. A. Paris says, was economy in right earnest, for a single pill would serve a whole family during their lives and might be transmitted as an heirloom to posterity.

Some heirloom! Link


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9 comments to "The Everlasting Pill"

  1. angstrom
    July 11th, 2009 at 6:34 am

    Son : "I feel ill mother"
    Mother : "Hang on and I'll fetch the medicine, Father have you finished with it yet?"
    Father : "Nearly, nearly, wait a moment. Got it"
    Son :"Actually, you know what, I suddenly feel a lot better"

  2. eni
    July 11th, 2009 at 10:01 am

    ....yeah. If you want to recycle your own pill, fine. But this is not something to share with the family. Sorry.

  3. Skipweasel
    July 11th, 2009 at 10:25 am

    I hope it scrubs up well.

  4. Him
    July 11th, 2009 at 11:29 am

    I have no idea what I thought "Recyclable" meant, but I know now that I was very, very wrong.

  5. Alana
    July 11th, 2009 at 11:34 am

    I work in clinical research, and there have been studies where they record the weight of a tablet before the patient takes it, and after. Eww. Makes me glad to just handle the paperwork.

  6. SenorMysterioso
    July 11th, 2009 at 11:53 am

    sounds like a good way to get ecoli

  7. Noelegy
    July 11th, 2009 at 3:09 pm

    Interesting, if icky.

  8. PancakeMan
    July 11th, 2009 at 4:50 pm

    Excuse me while I go throw up forever.

  9. zav
    July 11th, 2009 at 9:08 pm

    Be sure to hand it down to your children - for posterity.

    Wow.


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