Elixir: The American Tragedy of a Deadly Drug

ISBN: 0615898173

Author: Martin, Barbara J.

Condition: New

At the height of the Great Depression, the mysterious deaths of children in Oklahoma sparked an unprecedented investigation of a new and powerful antibiotic elixir. In a nationwide race with death, US government agents struggled to seize and destroy hundreds of bottles of the toxic drug before more children could be killed. Elixir tells the shocking true story of the deaths of more than 100 Americans who fell victim to this untested drug, the forces that led to the disaster, and the parallels to similar episodes of drug poisoning that continue to this day. Barbara J. Martin has compiled the most detailed historical account to date of this vast pharmaceutical tragedy and the myriad reactions to the fatal poisonings-from the manufacturer, the prescribing doctors, the dispensing pharmacists, and the organizations that had a significant stake in this tragedy, including the American Medical Association, the Food and Drug Administration, and Congress. Elixir follows this industrial catastrophe to its alarming conclusion with important insights for the 21st century.