Oral Therapy for Acute Diarrhea — The Underused Simple Solution

IN an editorial in the Journal in 1982,¹ Charles Carpenter wrote:We physicians all presumably accept the "primum non nocere" principle. On the basis of... studies... this principle would dictate that oral rehydration be accepted not only as an equal, but perhaps as the superior, means of treating acute diarrheal illnesses in the sophisticated and sanitized medical centers of the Western world as well as in rural Bangladesh.Despite such editorials based on the large volume of research data available and despite the endorsements of such organizations as the American Academy of Pediatrics, the World Health Organization (WHO), and the . . .