The Pure Food and Drugs Act was signed into law in 1906 and was a giant leap forward in the war on quack medical cures. The law was passed largely in response to the uproar caused by Upton Sinclair’s brutal novel about conditions in Chicago meat-packing plants. The law prohibited the interstate sale of adulterated and/or mislabeled food and drugs. This regulatory action gave power to the newly established Bureau of Chemistry enforcement to regulate quack cures masquerading as genuine medical treatments. The agency initially policed medications that would outright kill patients.
The Thalidomide...