Evening star., 1937-11-21
By ARTHUR r. WELL.
r. LIXIR SULFANILAMIDE,
- suggested for the treatment

L1A1R SULFANlLAMlDE,
~ suggested for the treatment
of all conditions in which
- the hemolytic streptococci
appear Dose-Begin with two to
three teaspoonfuls and continue at
this dose until recovery"
So. in tragic. unconscious irony
reads the label on the reddish-brown
TASKS which, with their raspberry
favored poison, have killed-thus
far-upward OF 30 men, women and
children.
Not only are other deaths and
the permanent disability Of many
persons expected, but officials of the
Agriculture Departments food and
drug administration insist repetitions
OF this wholesale destruction of life
will continue in one form or another
until Congress puts teeth into the
food and drug law of 1906 and per-
mits Federal licensing of those hand
ling death-dealing drugs.
Encore by Death.
according to pugnacious. bald
headed Walter G. Campbell, lawyer
chemist chief of the food and drug
administration, sulfanilamide, or
rather diethylene gNcol. another
deadly component of the fatal Elixir"
Is to 1887 only what jamaica ginger
or ginger jake" was to 1881, "radium
water" to 1882 or cinchophen or
amidopyrine, which destroy the liver
and kill the white blood corpuscles,
were to 1884.
Neither the bill which passed the
Senate last session nor the measure
now pending in the House. added Mr.
Campbell. will give the Government
suhicient authority to cope with fu-
ture medical sprees until after the
fatalities have occurred. Then, he
observed wryly, all we can do is
10 gather up the bottles along with
the corpses."
Sooner or later, Mr.. Campbell pre-
dicted. public consciousness will
awaken to the necessity of preventing
the dissemination of poisonous most
runs to cure everything from small
pox to harelip.
Even plumbers must get licenses
to tinker with the pipes of your
house." said Mr. Campbell. But
men who have failed to make q
living otherwise can ruin the Mines
OF the human body-and make a neat
fortune-before the Federal Govern
ment can stop them"
Needs Reform Incentive.
To bring about this revision. il NAV
take another jungle" the Upton Sim
clalr novel which in 1906 caused
Theodore Roosevelt to order a Federal
investigation of the packing industry
preliminary to seeking passage of the
original pure food law.
or 1T may be, according to Mr.
Campbell, public indignation already
mas been sufficiently stirred bv the
sulfanilamide calamity to defeat the
food and drug lobby which has, up tn
now prevented passage of a review
statute. Already, the Nationsl League
OF Women Voters has declared that
the sul1anllamide deaths point to the
need OF Government checks on pro-
ducts before they are distributed,
Such provision" said the league.
was in the original bill but was
dropped for lack of interest by the
public and because of the cooperative
efforts of the special interests in
volved"
Sulfanilamide is German dive
which was discovered about five Years
ago. 1t received prominence in med
1cal circles when Franklin D. Roose-
Velt, ]r., year ago, was treated sue
cessfully for streptococci throat with
prontylin. red dye breaking up into
su1anllamide in the body.
Merits Still Questioned.
The American medical profession
etlll Is divided as to its merits, but DR..
samuel Evans Massengill, who COM
pounds veterinary medicines in Bristol.
Tenn, decided to use sulfanilamide in
q remedy for septic sore throats and
the various infections of the cocci
family.
Now, Southerners prefer their medi-
cines liquified, although New Eng
landers banker toward pills So DR.,
Massenglll decided to create an elixir.
up to then, sulfanilamide had been
used only as tablet or for intravenous
injections. But without so much as
test on a guinea pig-he so has
Observation-Disclosures glycol, the stuff
used in anti-freese for automobiles
was used as a solvent of the sui
fanilamide.
1t dissolved the sulfanilamide all
right. 1t also destroyed the kidneys
and livers of the unfortunates taking
II: True, DR.. Massengill co-operated
with the food and drug administra-
ton by sending warning kilograms to
all his customers. But irreparable
damage already had been done.