The Waterbury Democrat., 1937-11-01

the administration of disagreeable medicines.
 The extraordinary emphasis placed on the circumstances that they many fatalities from the new drug sulfanilamide occurred from the elixir in which the drug was administered, although the toxic or harmful by-effects of sulfanilamide itself are already recognized and feared by careful physicians. In this instance the elixir in which the drug was given contained 72 per cent of dithylene glycol with flavoring, and 1t is possible that CD some hereto fore unrecognized chemical reaction occurred between the sulfanilamide and the diathylene glycol giving rise to a toxic produce, or CD that an unfortunate error was made in the process of manufacture or rprepara- tion of the elixir of sulfanilamide. The latter inference is suggested by the reported circumstances that one of the victims had taken sulfanil- amide tablets two weeks without untoward effect and then suffered the fatal effects shortly after begin- ming to take the drug in the form of the elixir.
 Characteristic untoward symp- toms in most of the fatal cases were nausea, vomiting, malaise or wreched feeling such as one has when coming down with grip or the cri, and after a few days anuria, that Is suppression of kidney function. Postmorten examinaton showed accumulation of fluid in poritoneal and pleural cavities, degeneration of tubules of kidneys and some necrosis of liver.
 Diathylene glycol is an industrial solvent, kind of alcohol. Added to water it lowers the freezing point and has been used in automobile radiators as an anti freeze liquid though another alcohol of the series ethylene glycol, is more generally employed for this purpose.
 Like many other new drugs thiS one came into use for no definite reason 1t purports to exert ar extraordinary antiseptic or ever germicidal effect particularly upor virulent or destructive streptococcus infections, but there is no convincing scentific evidence to support tlais assumption. Just the favorable con- clusions drawn by a few doctors wht ] thought 1t had something to do witt prompt recovery from such ill neSses. Ar is long, time is fleetin( and evidently money is short, for ths medical profession seems to have forgotten the history of salvarsan That was 8 typical instance. Wher first introduced salvarsan was t' CURE syphilis by completely steril' izing the blood and tissues, destroy ing every spirochete or syphili! germ in the body at one shot! Latel is was conceded that maybe three then six, then twenty-one dose might be advisable, just to be or the safe side. Still later syphili patients were urged to remain un' der salvarsan treatment for on' year or better two or three years at least. In due time, and befor' too many patients began to rebel solvarsan was improved" and neo salvarsan took its place. And so on and so on. s''
 To the medical observer who cal stand far enough off to get a fail view of the situation, the numerous reports in current medical literature describing the toxic or untowarC effects of sulfanilamide have beer even more impressive than the oc' casional reports of prompt recovery after administration of the medicine whether these favorable cases were just natural recoveries or actually attributable to the medicine.