ABSTRACT
As the proliferation of sectarian medical systems emerged and the sales of patent medicines flourished during the nineteenth century in the United States, there were groups of concerned physicians, pharmacists, and others who dedicated their efforts to promoting drug safety and professional standards. Building on the colonial and American Revolution experience, professionalization standards were set by local governments and Congress, local groups formed to discuss the state of medical and pharmacy practice. These discussions led to a series of landmark events in the history of American pharmacy including the creation of the first Pharmacopoeia of the United States in 1820, the founding of the Philadelphia College of Apothecaries in 1821, the founding of the American Medical Association in 1847, the passage of the Drug Importation Act of 1848, the founding of the American Pharmaceutical Association in 1852, and ultimately the passage of the Pure Food and Drug Act in 1906. These events also happened during a time of dramatic changes that brought medicine and pharmacy into the modern era.
