Elixir Of Death DVD

• Additional Details
• Format: Color, DVD-Video, NTSC
• Rating: Not Rated
• Number of Discs: 1
• Run Time: 50 Minutes
• Region: Region 1
• Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
• Language: English
• Studio: History Channel
• DVD Release Date: December 11, 2003

A disastrous oversight led to 100 deaths and a re-appraisal of the government's oversight of medicine.

• The inside story of one of the deadliest medical disasters in history.
• Hear the sickening tales of survivors.
• FDA historian John Swann tells how the agency responded--and how it was forever changed.

In September and October of 1937, people across the country started dying after drinking a new cough medicine known as Elixer Sulfanilamide. Produced by the S.E. Massengill Company in response to consumer demand for a liquid cough medicine, it was released to the public after testing for flavor, appearance and fragrance--but not toxicity. At the time, federal regulations did not require companies to certify that their drugs were safe, and the solution used to liquefy the sulfanilamide was diethylene glycol, a deadly poison that is found in anti-freeze.

From the first death to the FDA's no-holds-barred response, ELIXER OF DEATH tells the remarkable story of the incident that led to passage of the 1938 Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act, which increased the FDA's authority to regulate drugs. Survivors recall their harrowing ordeals, and FDA historians reveal how agents located 234 of the 240 gallons produced--often one bottle at a time!