Geritol: Difference between revisions

| introduced = 19301950

| website = [{{URL|http://www.geritol.com/ Geritol]}}

Geritol was introduced as an alcohol-based, [[Human iron metabolism|iron]] and [[B vitamins|B vitamin]] tonic by Pharmaceuticals, Inc., in August 1950 and primarily marketed as such into the 1970s. Geritol was folded into Pharmaceuticals' 1957 acquisition of J. B. Williams Co., founded in 1885.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.lib.uconn.edu/online/research/speclib/ASC/findaids/JBWilliams/MSS19670001.html|title=J. B. Williams Company Records, 1853–1956|website=Archives & Special Collections, Thomas J. Dodd Center, University of Connecticut|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060129204143/http://www.lib.uconn.edu/online/research/speclib/ASC/findaids/JBWilliams/MSS19670001.html|archive-date=January 29, 2006}}</ref> J. B. Williams Co. was bought by [[Nabisco]] in 1971.<ref>{{cite news |date=1971-07-10 |title=Nabsico-Williams |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/128223688/ |url-access=subscription |work=[[The Des Moines Register]] |via=[[Newspapers.com]] |volume=125 |issue=15 |page=11}}</ref> In 1982, the Geritol product name was acquired by the multinational pharmaceutical firm [[Beecham Group|Beecham]] (later [[GlaxoSmithKline]]).<ref>[http{{cite web |date=2003-09-15 |title=Geritol |url=https://adage.com/article/adage-encyclopedia/geritol/98487/ Geritol]|url-access=subscription |website=AdAge Encyclopedia}}</ref> Geritol was acquired by [[Meda AB|Meda Pharmaceutical]] in 2011.<ref>{{cite webpress release|last=Comer |first=Ben|date=2011-01-05|title=GSK launches new Alli spots, hands five OTC brands to Meda|url=http://www.mmm-online.com/gsk-launches-new-alli-spots-hands-five-otc-brands-to-meda/article/193721/ |website=Medical Marketing and Media}}</ref> Meda was acquired by [[Mylan]] in 2016.<ref>{{Cite news| title|last=Grover |first=Natalie |title=Mylan to buy Swedish drugmaker Meda in $7.2 billion deal| |work =[[Reuters]] Reuters| access-date = 2017-04-25 | date = 2016-02-11 | url = https://www.reuters.com/article/us-meda-m-a-mylan-nl-idUSKCN0VJ2IK}}</ref>

The earlier Geritol liquid formulation was advertised as "twice the iron in a pound of calf's liver," and daily doses contained about 50–100 milligrams of iron as [[ferric ammonium citrate]]. The Geritol tonic contained about 12% alcohol and some B vitamins.{{cn|date=April 2024}}

Geritol was the subject of years of investigation starting in 1959 by the [[Federal Trade Commission]] (FTC). In 1965, the FTC ordered the makers of Geritol to disclose that Geritol would relieve symptoms of tiredness only in persons who suffer from [[iron deficiency anemia]], and that the vast majority of people who experience such symptoms do not have such a deficiency. Geritol's claims were discredited in court findings as "conduct amounted to [[gross negligence]] and bordered on recklessness," ruled as a false and misleading claim, and heavily penalized with fines totaling $812,000 (equivalent to [[$]]{{Format price|{{Inflation|US|812000|1973}}}} in {{Inflation/year|US}} dollars),{{Inflation-fn|US}} the largest FTC fine up to that date (1973).<ref name="time">{{cite magazine|url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,906840,00.html|title=Geritol's Bitter Pill|magazine=Time|date=February 5, 1973|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081214084141/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,906840,00.html|archive-date=December 14, 2008}}</ref><ref>{{cite court|url=https://law.resource.org/pub/us/case/reporter/F2/381/381.F2d.884.16969.html|vol=381|reporter=F.2d|opinion=884|litigants=The J. B. WILLIAMS COMPANY, Inc., and Parkson Advertising Agency, Inc., Petitioner, v. FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION, Respondent|court=United States Court of Appeals Sixth Circuit|date=August 11, 1967}}</ref> Although subsequent trials and appeals from 1965 to 1973 concluded that some of the FTC demands exceeded its authority, Geritol was already well known and continued to be the largest U.S. company selling iron and B-vitamin supplements through 1979.{{cn|date=April 2024}}

Geritol was often used in the 1960s as a [[punch line]] for a joke in sitcoms or in comedy routines; comic singer [[Allan Sherman]] parodiedreferenced Geritol on his 1962 album ''[[My Son, the Folk Singer]]'', singing "Yasha got a bottle of Geritol" to the tune of "[[Joshua Fit the Battle of Jericho|Joshua Fought the Battle of Jericho]]".

* [http://www.geritol.com Official sitewebsite]

[[Category:GlaxoSmithKlineDrugs brandsdeveloped by GSK plc]]