Aspirin: The Extraordinary Story of a Wonder Drug by Diarmuid Jeffreys

Author:Diarmuid Jeffreys [Jeffreys, Diarmuid]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Science, General, History
ISBN: 9781408820421
Google: EwMndWYjLX8C
Publisher: Bloomsbury
Published: 2010-12-15T00:00:00+00:00

Not the least of the contributions of chemistry to human well being is the gift of aspirin, now manufactured and swallowed by the ton. Its analgesic effects and its safety are so widely known that its use has long passed into the control of the general public, with much encouragement from the manufacturers and little guidance from the medical profession.

Although overdoses were rare, the article continued, they did occur and doctors should be aware of the possibility. However, it concluded: 'aspirin in ordinary doses appears to be singularly safe'.

It was a remarkable endorsement from one of the world's leading medical journals and must have been thoroughly enjoyed by the management at Leverkusen. Not that they needed any lessons from anyone about the drug's achievements. They had celebrated its success in their own way some two years before, when a huge illuminated 236-foot-diameter aspirin tablet, decorated with the Bayer Cross, was installed above the factory on the Rhine. When it was switched on, the lights could be seen for miles, a proud monument to the company's most famous product.

But things were changing at Leverkusen - and in Germany too. In 1938, the company published a lavishly printed booklet describing fifty years of Bayer pharmaceutical achievement. It proudly listed its many successes, aspirin among them, and concluded by describing how its modern technology was now 'always available to supply any doctor with Bayer preparations by the quickest route and in the shortest possible time'. The statement ran alongside a photograph of the company's new aeroplane, flying proudly down the Rhine over the giant Leverkusen complex. The wings of the aeroplane bore the famous Bayer Cross logo. Its tail fin was decorated with a large black swastika.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.