Milk of Magnesia is an aqueous suspension of magnesium hydroxide , Mg ( O H ) 2 in water. Milk of Magnesia is a saline osmotic (hydrating) laxative . The name derives from the suspension's milky white appearance and the magnesium in its composition. more

Milk of Magnesia is an aqueous suspension of magnesium hydroxide , Mg ( O H ) 2 in water. Milk of Magnesia is a saline osmotic (hydrating) laxative . The name derives from the suspension's milky white appearance and the magnesium in its composition.

The term "Milk of Magnesia" was first used as a white-colored, aqueous, mildly alkaline suspension of magnesium hydroxide formulated at about 8 %w/v by Charles Henry Phillips in 1880 and sold under the brand name Phillips' Milk of Magnesia for medicinal usage. Although the name may at some point have been owned by GlaxoSmithKline , USPTO registrations show "Milk of Magnesia" to be registered to Bayer , and "Phillips' Milk of Magnesia" is registered to Sterling Drug . In the UK , the non-brand (generic) name of "Milk of Magnesia" and "Phillips' Milk of Magnesia" is "Cream of Magnesia" (Magnesium Hydroxide Mixture, BP). less