Medicine: The Case of the Violet Paste

Society has harsh punishments for a girl who gets “in trouble.” If she is poor and ignorant, she may be driven to use concoctions offered by people like “Doctor” Charles Faiman. When she accepts such “help,” there is an excellent chance that she will never need help of any kind again.

“Dr.” Faiman is a stocky, baldish, well-dressed man with a neat brown mustache and a look of respectability. He lives in an exclusive section of Dallas, drives a green Buick, has an attractive second wife. He has been supported in his pleasant position by panicky pregnant girls. Last week “Dr.” Faiman was under a two-year prison sentence for selling “abortion paste” in interstate commerce.

Germs for Billy. In various states, “Dr.” Faiman has had other little brushes with the law. Apparently born in Riga, Latvia (or maybe Minneapolis), he was indicted as an abortionist in St. Paul in 1922. The case was dismissed because of “the condition and attitude of the complainant.” In 1925, Faiman told a Chicago court that he had supplied typhoid germs to William Darling Shepherd for the purpose of murdering his rich young ward, Billy McClintock. Faiman got off by turning state’s evidence. A witness testified during the trial that Faiman had operated an unsavory St. Louis “massage-parlor” and was “doctor in chief” of a similar resort in Detroit.

Moving to Dallas, Faiman was indicted for illegal practice of medicine and for assault on his first wife. These troubles did not interfere seriously with his wholesale drug business, which he called “Physicians’ Prescription Products.”

Poison for the Girls. In 1940, the Federal Food & Drug Administration was conducting a drive against “abortion pastes.” During a routine checkup, an inspector discovered that Faiman was selling a violet-colored, sweet-smelling paste called “Metro-Vac” containing a poisonous metallic salt. It induced abortions all right, just as many powerful drugs will. But the FDA considers the preparation one of the most dangerous in existence. If the active drug gets into the bloodstream (as it often does), the patient dies.

Merely spotting the deadly tubes was not enough, for the FDA could not prove that they had entered interstate commerce. Selling such drugs inside Texas is not a federal offense, and the state of Texas did not seem to care. For years, the FDA kept an eye on Faiman.

Late one night last January an inspector tailed the “doctor” to an express office and watched him address a package to a Louisiana doctor. When opened, it proved to contain abortion paste ($5 a tube, enough for three perilous abortions). An FDA man followed the package to its destination and seized it as evidence. Later, another package was trailed through the mails to Arkansas.

“Dr.” Faiman’s two-year sentence seemed to worry him only momentarily. Last week, out on $5,000 bond pending appeal, he had regained his old composure. With a persecuted air he complained: “There’s some pressure coming from somewhere, but I don’t know where it’s from.”