Patent medicines originated in 16th century England. These medicines were ready-made remedies and could be purchased to treat many conditions. Originally, the term referred to medicines that actually were patented. To receive a patent, however, the...

Patent medicines first appeared in England in the 1600s. When a medication was patented, its formula was owned by the patent holder, and no one else could duplicate and sell it. In order to qualify for a patent, a medicine only had to be original; no...

Patent medicine is the somewhat misleading term given to various medical compounds sold under a variety of names and labels, though they were, for the most part, actually medicines with trademarks, not patented medicines. In ancient times, such medicine...

Visitors to Winterthur sometimes experience a "Wow!" moment when touring the museum's permanent and traveling collections, but the newest exhibit offers a bit of a twist."Bow-wow!" might be the more appropriate response to "Pets in America," which traces Americans' love affair with their animals from...

Visitors to Winterthur sometimes experience a "Wow!" moment when touring the museum's permanent and traveling collections, but the newest exhibit offers a bit of a twist."Bow-wow!" might be the more appropriate response to "Pets in America," which traces Americans' love affair with their animals from...

Stroke survivor Edmund Lising is supposed to take four tablets of two medicines each day, including the anti-hypertension drug Norvasc. But to save money, the 58-year-old retiree takes only two a day, supplementing the dose each time with a fervent prayer. ...

Every home should have a few useful remedies on hand for the early stages of common illnesses. Chinese medicine offers some great ready-made formulas (“patent medicines”) but you won’t find information about how to use them on the product labels. Figuring out what’s safe...