nostrum

IPA: nˈɑstrʌm

A medicine or remedy in conventional use which has not been proven to have any desirable medical effects.
(by extension) An ineffective but favorite remedy for a problem, usually involving political action.

Examples of "nostrum" in Sentences

It was said to be a nostrum for "haemorrhage, dysentery, diarrohea, poisoning, plague, and nosebleeds."
The nostrum, in fact truism, that countries cannot really devalue their way to prosperity is important to bear in mind.
None of this is surprising, though it does dismantle the liberal nostrum that a new entitlement will somehow reduce health spending.
Jail is the conventional and time-honored nostrum, which is administered with a glow of moral self-esteem, and no more thought about it.
"Privatization" is a crowd-pleasing nostrum for public officials seeking to shed the budgetary cost of programs and services that they nevertheless know to be a public responsibility.
May I take this opportunity to wish all NLM readers a very happy and blessed Easter, in the words of the EF Martyrology: Hac die, quam fecit Dominus, Solemnitas solemnitatum, et Pascha nostrum: Resurrectio Salvatoris nostri Jesu Christi secundum carnem.
At the end of the day, discounting products is nothing more than a short-term nostrum for a problem that is much more severe and will benefit no one in the end if it isn't accompanied by making sure that there were patients to inject these products into.