Recently, when searching the TROVE Scotland archive, I came across this old diary from 1899:
Curious about the patient stories shared by the ‘World’s Dispensary Medical Association’ I decided to undertake some further research. Time and time again, I kept coming across advertisements by Dr Pierce. What follows is a small selection of what I found in the archives:
In the 1880s, this advertisement appeared multiple times in newspapers across Britain:
Dr Ray Vaughn Pierce [1840-1914
6 July 1878, Buffalo: Opening of Invalids’ and Tourists’ Hotel:
1879, Chicago Tribune:
Dr Pierce’s Consulting Room:
Packing and Shipping Room for World’s Dispensary Medical Association:
14 February 1880, GRAPHIC:
20 March 1880, Manchester Times:
22 July 1892, Aldershot Gazette:
8 October 1892, Toronto Mail: National Druggists’ Association Meeting:
27 April 1898, Letter from Dr Pierce to a patient [customer]:
2 June 1898: To the Retail Drug Trade of America:
27 September 1898 : To a patient [customer]:
Advice leaflet given to a patient [customer]:
2 October 1902, TRUTH:
28 November 1904, Ottawa Free Press:
21 November 1905, Ottawa Free Press:
4 July 1906, TRUTH:
17 November 1910, Newry Telegraph:
24 March 1911, Forfar Herald:
5 February 1914, Hamilton Daily Times: Death of Dr Pierce:
Dr Pierce’s ‘winter home’ that he built on Saint Vincent’s, the island that he had purchased:
A wild boar killed on Saint Vincent by Dr Pierce:
19 November 1917, Kennebec Journal:
Patent Medicine Business: 
WIKIPEDIA:
Ray Vaughn Pierce was a 19th-century American physician, Republican Congressman from New York, and a prominent manufacturer and marketer of patent medicines.
AI summary:
The American Medical Association (AMA) was a leading voice in labeling Dr. R. V. Pierce and his patent medicines as quackery. In the early 20th century, the AMA intensified its campaign against what it viewed as deceptive and dangerous proprietary remedies sold directly to the public. The AMA’s criticisms of Pierce and his remedies were based on several factors:
Unsupported medical claims. Pierce’s medicines made extravagant promises to cure a wide array of chronic and serious diseases, from “blood diseases” and lung ailments to gynecological problems. The AMA worked to expose these curative claims as exaggerated and unproven.
Lack of transparency. At the time, manufacturers were not required to disclose their products’ ingredients. The AMA opposed this secrecy, believing the public had a right to know what they were ingesting. After analyzing many patent medicines, the AMA exposed that many, including some like Pierce’s, often contained large amounts of alcohol, narcotics like opium, or other toxic substances that could be harmful or addictive.
Commercial exploitation of patients. For the AMA, the large-scale advertising and merchandising of patent medicines exploited the hopes and desperation of sick people. They saw the business of selling “cure-alls” as a commercial scam rather than legitimate medical practice. The AMA pointed out that Pierce’s company, the World’s Dispensary Medical Association, was essentially an advertising firm for his products.
Promotion of self-treatment. The AMA promoted a model of medicine overseen by trained physicians. In contrast, Pierce and other patent medicine purveyors actively encouraged self-diagnosis and self-treatment through widely distributed booklets like The People’s Common Sense Medical Adviser. For the AMA, this approach bypassed the professional’s necessary guidance and harmed public health.
Target of expose journalism. The AMA’s efforts aligned with and were supported by investigative journalists of the era, known as “muckrakers.” These journalists, most famously Samuel Hopkins Adams, wrote extensively about the dangers and deceptions of the patent medicine industry, often highlighting companies like Pierce’s.