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Health and Medicine in Warren County and Bowling Green HOME REMEDIES AND PATENT MEDICINES Early Warren Countians relied on lay practitioners and home remedies for medical treatment because professional medical services were scarce. The few available physicians traveled long hours on horseback or in buggies to treat patients, but many nineteenth century Kentuckians distrusted doctors. Patent medicines were extremely popular throughout the nineteenth century, and they could be purchased through catalogs, by direct mail, or over the counter. Many of them used alcohol as the main ingredient and were ineffective but harmless. However, some patent medicines used opium, cocaine, and other harmful substances until they were taken off the market with the passage of the Pure Food and Drug Act of 1906. DENTISTRY Several Warren County physicians have played important roles in the health field in Kentucky. Bowling Green physician Dr. Joseph N. McCormack became the State Board of Health's secretary and chief state officer a few years after his appointment in the early 1880s. During his forty-year tenure he supervised the licensing of Kentucky doctors and wrote most of the commonwealth's laws concerning sanitation and public health. His son Arthur served in that position from 1912 to 1943. Women and minorities have also made significant contributions to the medical field. Internationally known Dr. Lillian H. South, the first woman vice president of the American Medical Association, led Kentucky's first hookworm campaign in 1912. African American doctors Otho D. Porter, Z. K. Jones and Walter F. Becket provided significant health care services to the Black community. NURSES |
