Candy Medication

In an era when children dreaded the bitter tonics and harsh liquids prescribed by physicians, one doctor proposed a radical solution: make medicine taste like candy. Bernard Fantus, a pioneering pharmacist, here makes the case for medicated sweets as a means of conquering pediatric resistance to treatment. The book traces this practice back to classical antiquity, when confections were indeed medicinal compounds, while simultaneously arguing that modern children deserved formulations worthy of their palates. Fantus writes with dry wit about the disconnect between official pharmacopoeia and what a youngster would actually consume, noting that 'a youngster would be disrespectful enough to disagree with the pharmacopoeia.' This is part medical manifesto, part historical survey, and wholly charming in its earnest belief that compliance should not require coercion. For readers interested in the history of medicine, childhood, or the strange evolution of pharmaceutical science, Fantus offers an unexpectedly delightful window into early twentieth-century pediatrics.