magic bullet

magic bullet

1. A drug, treatment, or medical therapy that provides an immediate cure to an ailment, disease, or condition without negative side effects or consequences. Despite the amazing leaps in medical technology and knowledge, we're still quite a ways off from developing a magic bullet in cancer treatment. Beware any person or company trying to sell you a magic bullet for your health problems. If it sounds too good to be true, it usually is!
2. Something that provides an immediate and extremely effective solution to a given problem or difficulty, especially one that is normally very complex or hard to resolve. There's no magic bullet that will solve the homelessness crisis in this country.
See also: bullet, magic
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms.

magic bullet

verb
See silver bullet
See also: bullet, magic
McGraw-Hill's Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions

magic bullet

A fail-safe solution to a problem. The term was coined by Paul Ehrlich (1854–1915), who won the 1908 Nobel Prize in physiology or medicine. He gave the name to a compound that selectively targeted a bacterium without affecting other organisms, specifically the agent causing syphilis. The name soon was transferred to other curative compounds, and later to other kinds of problem. For example, “The Federal Reserve has no magic bullet for dealing with high unemployment.”
See also: bullet, magic
The Dictionary of Clichés by Christine Ammer
See also:
  • a cure worse than the ailment
  • a cure worse than the disease
  • a treatment worse than the disease
  • ailment
  • cure
  • disease
  • the cure is worse than the ailment
  • the cure is worse than the disease
  • the treatment is worse than the disease
  • treatment
References in periodicals archive
If you're willing to live without the Film Look, what does Magic Bullet Editors offer?
Various ..
It wasn't a magic bullet, but it gave us the grace to see past the immediate muck.
Have rosary, will travel
Melatonin is a hormone billed by health-food groupies as a "magic bullet" capable of battling cancer, slowing the aging process, and boosting sexual potency.
Rush's medicine show
But don't think of soy as a magic bullet. A pound of tofu will be hard pressed to lower your cholesterol if it's topped off with a pint of Chunky Monkey.
The incredible, edible soybean
Law enforcement officers who confront gang activity understand that no "magic bullet" exists to rid communities of the problem.
The GREAT program: Gang Resistance Education And Training
Despite their striking epidemiological differences, the resistance of both polio and tuberculosis to swift, laboratory-produced, "magic bullet" cures makes their study particularly rewarding to historians interested in how disease is fashioned by a series of complex and delicate interactions between infection, medical treatment, public ideology, and social policy.
Dirt and Disease: Polio before FDR
Arlen Specter, the guy ho dreamed up the magic bullet theory and terrorized Anita Hill last fall, the guy you would want to run Bloomingdale's?
Why the bad news is good
Red Giant Software will also be joining the Lounge in February, to demo the latest version of Magic Bullet Suite 11.
Editors' Lounge Heats Up February with Hot Demos from Red Giant, Intelligent Assistance, and AIRware
That is the most elegant, simple explanation of what different types of ammunition are designed for I have ever seen, and it goes a very long way toward debunking all the magic bullet nonsense we see in articles and advertising.
Bestest yet
REIGNING Hankook MSA Northern Ireland Stage Rally Champion Stuart Biggerstaff heads the entry for this Saturday's Magic Bullet Stages Rally, which will be held at County Down's Kirkistown Race Circuit.
THE BIG GUNS COME OUT FOR MAGIC BULLET RALLY
The research in India involved more than 2,000 people and was the most comprehensive study of the controversial "magic bullet" pill.
uk news bulletin: Life-saving potential in 'magic bullet' pill
SCIENTISTS in the North-East have discovered a new light sensitive "magic bullet" treatment for cancer which propels the body's immune system to fight tumours with pinpoint accuracy.
CANCER GETS THE 'BULLET' North technology 'a world first'
A "magic bullet" drug that opens a new frontier in cancer treatment was launched in the UK today.
'Magic bullet' to tackle cancer
But is there a magic bullet? Look on the supplement shelf of any drugstore and you can see ephedra and ephedrine advertised in many products that make claims of increased energy and fat loss.
Health and fitness for life
Currently, physicians have no way to stop premature labor once it starts, so a drug to avoid it may represent "one magic bullet," he says.
Progesterone product may reduce premature births. (Full-Length Pregnancy)