Homemade Remedies: Pure Food and Drug Act of 1906

The regulation of patented medicine came about through the efforts of muckraking journalists who called attention to the dangers of these potions, which resulted in public pressure on Congress. In 1906, a reluctant Congress passed the landmark Pure Food and Drug Act, giving birth to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and to laws requiring the strict governance of the food and drug industries. The act also forbade anyone from obtaining prescriptions except from a licensed doctor and required warning labels on all habit-forming medicines. In addition, all medicines had to be certified by the FDA, a certification that most patented medicines failed, and consequently most were banned from the market.