nostrum

noun2

1. •
   A medicine or remedy in conventional use which has not been proven to have any desirable medical effects.

   • In precisely the same way does a quack doctor prescribe his infallible nostrum to every patient, without taking into account differences of constitution, or [...] — 1833
2. •
   An ineffective but favorite remedy for a problem, usually involving political action.

   • reformers of church charities [...made] known […] their different nostrums for setting Hiram's Hospital on its feet again. — 1857