A prominent physician in 1917 believed:

“His strong conviction that the time would never come when alcohol would no longer be used in illness.  So far as Dr. Robinson can see, that time should not come, for there are conditions which absolutely demand the use of alcohol as a prominent part of medicine.”

According to a physician I asked in research for this post, alcohol is almost never used in modern-day medicine anymore. He wrote, “I can’t think of an illness where alcohol is used. Several over the counter cold medicines and mouthwashes have small amounts of alcohol, used to make the active ingredients more soluble. But, other than perhaps sleepiness, the alcohol has no actual medicinal value.”

According to the San Diego State University Center for Alcohol & Drug Studies and Services, here is a list of medicines containing alcohol. As you can see, there aren’t many, and even the ones that do rarely contain above a single-digit percentage.

So much for that 1917 prediction.

Alcohol Upheld as an Aid to Medical Practice: Dr. Beverly Robinson, Eminent Clinician, Takes Issue with Dr. Charles H. Mayo and Other Champions of Prohibition

From Sunday, June 17, 1917