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WOMEN’S HEALTH
THE BATES
NUMBERING
MACHINE
By: Tom Crandall
he Bates Numbering Machine, Bates Stamp- 1901. This new numbering machine had the ability
er, Automatic Stamper or Bates Automatic to select “Consecutive”, “Repeat” and “Duplicate”
TNumber Machine is commonly used in the making it much more useful for documentation
legal industry for indexing large volumes of com- purposes. This new model is pictured above and
plex litigation documents which must be retrieved below.
easily for reference and inquiry.
Newer versions of the Bates Numbering Machines
Bates Numbering Machine – History include the ability to use letters, numbers, a prefix
The term Bates numbering machine comes from and a suffix, depending on the application. For
the various patents submitted by Edwin G. Bates example, page 1 of a document about a woman FDA approved prasterone (Intrarosa™) to treat women
pertaining to the original Bates Consecutive Num- named Jane Doe might be marked JD1. On the WOMEN’S experiencing moderate to severe pain during sexual
ber Machine. Edwin’s patents range from about next page it might say JD2 and so on. intercourse (dyspareunia), a symptom of vulvar and
1892-1907. The actual number that is stamped HEALTH vaginal atrophy due to menopause. It is the first FDA-
onto a page is often referred to as a Bates Stamp. Bates Numbering Machine – Who Uses It approved product containing the active ingredient
Bates Numbering Machines were used by the dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA).
FDA Approves New Drug to
One of the first patents approved was for the Con- railroad, lawyers, accountants and a host of other
Help Women who Experience
secutive Number Machine in 1892. The number industries where the identification of documenta-
Pain during Sexual Intercourse Efficacy of prasterone, a once-daily vaginal insert, was
machine had the ability to auto-increment (rotate tion was required. Each time the Bates Numbering established in two 12-week placebo-controlled clinical
to the next number), which advanced to the next Machine was used, a Bates number would be trials of 406 healthy postmenopausal women, aged 40 to
number every time the handle was depressed. added to a page. Depending on the document 80 years, who identified moderate to severe pain during
or documents, different number sequences were sexual intercourse as their most bothersome symptom
This was a major improvement since no interven- applied. of vulvar and vaginal atrophy. Women were randomly
tion was required to adjust the numbers. assigned to receive prasterone or a placebo vaginal
Lawyers especially would use the Bates Stamps to insert. When compared with placebo, prasterone was
There were a few drawbacks to this machine, so identify and distinguish pages of legal documents. shown to reduce severity of pain experienced during
Bates submitted a patent in 1896 for the Automat- Many US law firms still use Bates Numbering Ma- sexual intercourse. The most common adverse reactions
ic Number Machine. The patent was approved in chines and Bates Stamps today. were vaginal discharge and abnormal Pap smear.
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16 | THE VOICE OF INDEPENDENT PHARMACY | SUMMER 2017 Author: Tom Crandall, antiqueoutings.com AMERICAN COLLEGE OF APOTHECARIES | ACAINFO.ORG | 17
