False Promises of a Cure.

Colds are caused by a variety of different viruses. To vaccinate a person against a cold or to cure one would require a defense against each of the possible viral culprits, an unlikely possibility. That did not stop drug companies advertising cold medications, usually consisting of antihistamines to control nasal stuffiness, from claiming they could cure or prevent colds. In March 1950 the Federal Trade Commission charged the makers of the popular medicines Resistabs, Inhiston, Kripton, and Anahist with false advertising for their exaggerated claims of effectiveness against colds. Later in the year, another federal agency showed that antihistamines are about as successful against colds as plain sugar.

A Cold Vaccine.

In 1959 there was a stir of interest when Dr. Victor Haas, director of the National Institute of Allergy! and Infectious Diseases, announced that a vaccine seemed imminent that...