Patent medicine makers fabricated doctor endorsements for credibility

Evidence

Liquozone, concluded Adams, is “a fraud which owes its continued existence to the laxity of our public health methods and the cynical tolerance of the national conscience.” Even the name was a sham. “Liquid oxygen doesn’t exist above a temperature of 229 degrees below zero,” pointed out Adams. “One spoonful would freeze a man’s tongue, teeth and throat to equal solidity before he ever had time to swallow.” Douglas Smith was accused of creating an “ingenious system of pseudoscientific charlatanry.” For his part, Hopkins had buttressed Liquozone’s claims with dozens of endorsements by doctors. Adams rebutted each one, either on the merits or by showing the endorser did not exist or was in fact a veterinarian. — Tim Wu, The Attention Merchants, 114

Categorization

• XREF: Fake expert endorsements recur in modern influencer marketing and paid-ad review scandals; a historical precedent. — connects to: Tobacco companies manufactured physician endorsements without substantive proof — Tim Wu, The Attention Merchants, 1249; Advertisers weaponized accounting firms to certify bogus health claims — Tim Wu, The Attention Merchants, 1250; Peddlers manufactured medicine publicly as spectacle to sell dubious remedies — Tim Wu, The Attention Merchants, 86 (+5 more)

Broader Connections

• Patent medicine abuses discredited testimonials before Pond’s revived celebrity endorsement #complicates (0.85) — Tim Wu, The Attention Merchants, 222
• Easily pirated reputational symbols lose credibility through overuse #expands (0.75)