Paregoric

Paregoric, or camphorated tincture of opium, also known as tinctura opii camphorata, is a medication known for its antidiarrheal, antitussive, and analgesic properties. It was a household remedy in the 18th and 19th centuries, when it was widely used to calm fretful children. In the 20th century its use declined as governments regulated it. Until very recently in the U.S., paregoric was a Schedule V drug, and was available over-the-counter in pharmacies in several states by simply signing a register/logbook. Today, paregoric can still be found in the pharmacopeia, but it has been re-regulated as a Schedule III drug under the Controlled Substances Act. The drug is available now only by medical prescription.

The principal active ingredient is powdered opium (containing the equivalent of 0.4 mg/mL of morphine). Other ingredients are benzoic acid, camphor, glycerin, anise oil and purified water. The main effect of this preparation is to increase the muscular tone of the intestine, and also to inhibit normal peristalsis. Its main medicinal use is to control fulminant diarrhea. It is also an antitussive (cough suppressant). Problems with its use include opiate dependency and analgesia which can mask symptoms of diseases that need treatment.

Paregoric is sometimes confused with laudanum, because their chemical names are similar: camphorated tincture of opium (paregoric) vs. tincture of opium (laudanum). However, laudanum contains 10 milligrams of morphine per milliliter, 25 times more than paregoric. Confusion between the two drugs has led to overdose and deaths in several patients. Thus the term "paregoric" should be used instead of "camphorated opium tincture," since the latter may be confused with laudanum.

Paregoric was available 'over-the-counter' on a signature basis in the United States until the Controlled Substance Act classed it as a Schedule III Narcotic in 1973.

Bottle of Paregoric with Synonyms

In popular culture

Paregoric is mentioned in the following works:

Literature

• Nelson Algren's short story "The Captain Has Bad Dreams"
• Many works by William S. Burroughs, including The Yage Letters, Junky, Queer and Naked Lunch
• William S. Burroughs, Jr.'s Speed
• Robin Cook's Harmful Intent (1990)
• Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's The Adventure of the Three Gables
• Richard Fariña's Been Down So Long It Looks Like Up to Me
• James T. Farrell's Studs Lonigan
• William Golding's Rites of Passage (laudanum is also mentioned in the book)
• Homer Hickham's The Coalwood Way (the user in the story is ironically named "Poppy")
• William Cowper Brann's "Brann the Iconoclast" (1898)
• Reynolds Price's "A Long and Happy Life" (1962)
• Rick Moody's novel The Ice Storm
• John Steinbeck's East of Eden
• Thomas Pynchon's Against the Day
• Eudora Welty's short story "June Recital" from The Collected Stories of Eudora Welty (1980)
• Kōbō Abe's The Box Man
• The "anonymous" work Go Ask Alice
• Ken Kesey's Sometimes a Great Notion
• Anton Myrer's Once an Eagle
• William Faulkner's "Pylon"
• Katherine Paterson's Jacob Have I Loved
• Caleb Carr's The Angel of Darkness
• George Orwell's Down and Out in Paris and London and A Clergyman's Daughter
• Joseph Conrad's short story "The Nigger of the Narcissus"
• John Fowles' "The Magus"
• Anne B. Ross's novel Miss Julia Speaks Her Mind
• Marlon James' The Book of Night Women (laudanum is also mentioned in the book)
• Mark Twain's Letters From the Earth
• Alexandra Ripley's "Scarlett"

Stage play

• Alice Childress's play Wedding Band (as the reason for the lover's sudden illness)

Movie

• Night Nurse
• The Ice Storm

Television

• Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman, in the episode "Bad Water"
• Little House on the Prairie, in the episodes "A Matter of Faith" and "To Live with Fear"
• M*A*S*H, in the episodes "The Yalu Brick Road" and briefly in "Sticky Wicket"
• Murder, She Wrote, in the episode "Mirror, Mirror on the Wall: Part 2"

Music

• Paregoric by Black River Circus: the music video for this song shows vintage photos of smoke pollution in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and describes the antitussive effects of the medication ("Paregoric let my lungs breathe deep")
• Baby-Rocking Medley by Rosalie Sorrels: Sorrels, in a spoken passage of the song, quips, "All the paregoric is gone. It's gone because you drank it."