Experimentation with medical devices to cure ailments is common among every culture throughout much of human history. Even today it is nearly impossible to turn on the television or log onto the internet without seeing an advertisement for a new cure for a common ailment. However, as many of us know, some of these medical devices do not cure the ailments described in their advertisements.
At HSMC, we have a collection of medical devices that were used in Montgomery County. One of these devices is an example of a medical device that did not cure the ailments described in advertisements. Dr. Young’s rectal dilators were advertised as a permanent relief of piles, constipation, nervousness, dyspepsia, sick headache, neuralgia, rheumatism, insomnia, asthma, indigestion, eczema, and all diseases caused by sluggish circulation, malnutrition, defective elimination and the abuse of cathartic drugs. It was even claimed that these dilators could be a cure for insanity.[1]
Made by F.E. Young & Co., these dilators were used by many Americans around the turn of the 20th century. In 1940, the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York seized a shipment of these dilators, claiming they were misbranded. This lead to many legal cases, including one in Philadelphia, which revealed the dilators did not have any proven scientific cure for every ailment they claimed to fix.[2] The FDA eventually labeled the product to be hazardous to a person’s health if it was used as frequently as the company advised its customers.
[1]Editorial Comments. The New Way. Medical News. Philadelphia: Henry C. Lea’s Son & Company. April 29, 1893. p. 471.
[2] U.S. National Library of Medicine, “335. Misbranding of Dr. Young’s Rectal Dilators and Dr. Young’s Piloment. U. S. v. 67 Sets of Dr. Young’s Rectal Dilators and 83 Packages of Dr. Young’s Piloment. Default decrees of condemnation and destruction.”
March 1942, https://ceb.nlm.nih.gov/fdanj/handle/123456789/9601