A Time-Release History of the Opioid Epidemic by J. N. Campbell & Steven M. Rooney

Author:J. N. Campbell & Steven M. Rooney
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Springer International Publishing, Cham

With such useful knowledge now in plentiful amounts, the pharmaceutical firms moved towards a two-fold approach for their alkaloid platforms, and it led to indirect investments in medical journals . The first aspect of their approach was sending those all-important samples directly to medical elites who in turn would plug into their base and give it a run by publishing their unscientific results in regional or national publications. The second approach was backing up these recommendations with an actual advertisement that would be strategically placed in the same issue [19]. This two-fold approach placed authority squarely in the laps of the attending physician, so to speak, and reflected the art of medicine and deft advertising. If well-received doctors acknowledged a product, then it would gain acceptance. It was the best-case scenario for a company attempting to promote its drug manufacturing capabilities, while walking that fine line between avarice and rectitude. An example from 1903 pertaining to heroin is instructive.

Dr. John Leffingwell Hatch was a leading physician of the early twentieth century. Seemingly everywhere, he had all sorts of connections in both America and in Europe. Born in 1863 in Rochester, New York during the American Civil War, he trained at the University and then did a post-doc at the University of Pennsylvania. He probably heard about the newly finished Chandler Chemistry Building in Bethlehem in 1888, the same year of his graduation. Like those exo-chemists that trekked to Europe for training, Hatch followed suit, and landed in Heidelberg, Germany, where he studied at university and in several biologic laboratories. He had some German in his repertoire from his days at Rochester, plus he developed an interest in crafting poetry and short stories, which the former probably helped with the language barrier more than the latter. Traveling just south of Merck's Headquarters in Darmstadt, he returned to America obtaining numerous fellowships and serving as a surgeon for steamship line and the United States Marine Hospital service. In short, he amassed a strong resume.9 By 1902, he was well-travelled and had developed a dossier of experience that led him to regularly publish his treatment methods in numerous juried medical journals, which made him rather a celebrity when it came to medical appraisals. With a connection to German pharmaceutical firms he was well-placed to serve their needs. And, as far as we know, they did not even need to compensate him [20]. In several journals, including the Canadian Journal of Medicine and Surgery, a publication that was distributed widely across that country and in America, he published in the October 1903 issue the article hauntingly titled, “Glyco-Heroin (Smith) Almost Infallible.” Based on evidence he had collected from some “fifty cases” concerning patients he had encountered that took Glyco-Heroin, he reported fabulous results. He found patients receptive, of all ages, and in his professional opinion, there was much hope for it. What is most instructive about this source is not necessarily that Hatch thought Glyco-Heroin was an excellent product (because we now know that

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