DEAR DR. GOTT: I just saw an old television show where a mother put merthiolate on her son’s knee following a scrape when he fell off his bicycle. I didn’t even know the product was still around, or isn’t it?
DEAR READER: Iodine, mercurochrome and merthiolate were used by my parents, grandparents and the rest of the nation for scrapes and skin tears on a regular basis when I was a child. The red liquid products came in slender brown bottles with glass wicks for application. I can remember my mother washing away all the sand and dirt I managed to pick up from bicycle mishaps with a warm, soapy wash cloth every time I came home from a day of riding with my friends. I was treated with iodine and can remember the product stung like the devil.
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