Imagine that a new drug is discovered capable of treating over 150 different diseases, including dyspepsia, blindness, attrition, asthma, hysteria, cancer, impotence, cell aging.
Imagine seeing endless queues, in front of pharmacies, of people hoping to be able to get hold of this drug, the fruit of science and modern medicine.
Imagine famous doctors and illustrious scientists enthusiastically describing the therapeutic properties of such a drug, calling it “The discovery of the century”, “A huge leap for humanity in the pharmacological field” and “Almost universal cure”.
Imagine that the two scientists who were responsible for the discovery of this active ingredient receive the Nobel Prize for Chemistry.
Imagine a marketing operation so powerful that it induces industries to also include this active ingredient in cosmetics, tonics, creams, chocolate, toothpastes, baby wool, children's toys, mineral water, watches and even chicken feed, because, it is claimed, helps the eggs to self-incubate.
Imagine a world in which this active ingredient, in different forms and uses, is present in every home.
And, demonstrating how everyone is consumed by this magical element, it turns out that many products list this active ingredient even though they do not contain it at all, in an illicit attempt to increase sales of their product because a huge pool of buyers demands the presence of this miracle substance everywhere, stopping buying what doesn't contain it.
We are in the 1920s and the mysterious and miraculous active ingredient is called Radium, a highly radioactive metal.
A factory starts producing luminous dial watches, the latest US Army gadget, which uses a luminous paint called UnDark, based on Radium.
The girls who paint the dials work on a piecework basis, and are able to make around 250 of them every day, with a factory manager's salary. While they work they use to lick the brush to soften it and many paint their nails with UnDark because it is fashionable.
Scientists and company executives, on the other hand, avoid any exposure to UnDark; The chemists and company owners handled the substance behind lead shields, with protective masks and tongs.
The highest echelons of the U.S. Radium Corporation knew about the deadly effects of radioactivity, and did not stop this absurd mass poisoning so as not to lose the market.
When the workers began to have health problems and suspect that the work environment had caused them, several specialists were called in for medical investigations. The case of Grazia Fryer is famous, who was declared in good health by two expert doctors. However, the two were later recognized as a toxicologist on the U.S. payroll. Radium Corporation and one of the vice presidents of the same company.
With the help of doctors and dentists on its payroll, the company nevertheless denied the accusations and made the environment appear idyllic, an ideal workplace without any type of health risk.
“Inexplicably” the medical community connived with the company, which therefore operated undisturbed for a long time.
It took Grazia Fryer two years to find a lawyer willing to go against the U.S. Radium and the trial dragged on for months. She was joined by four other workers, and the media dubbed the cause “Radium Girls.” At their first court appearance their health was so deteriorated that none could raise their hands to take the oath. During the second hearing they were all so ill that they could not attend, and so the case was suspended for several months. The women eventually reached an out-of-court settlement that included $100,000 in compensation, paid legal and medical bills, and an allowance of $600 per year throughout their (short) remaining lives. If today the value may seem small, at that time it was enormous, comparable to several million dollars today.
In the meantime, pharmaceutical companies continued to produce radioactive pills, potions and creams, while the German physiologist Georg Wendt loudly made public the results of his experiments and tests, disclosing information regarding beneficial effects obtained on mice thanks to exposure to Radium.
Also in Italy there were advertising campaigns and sales of naturally or artificially radioactive products, on a smaller scale. The famous mineral waters are very well known.
Another interesting character of that era is William Bailey, a Harvard "reject" well known for having founded and led to bankruptcy several companies.
He founded the Radium Institute because, like hordes of other eager entrepreneurs, he was aware of the success surrounding Radium-related products. When Bailey introduced Radithor, a radioactive drug, in 1918, he advertised it as "A cure for the living dead" and "The perpetual sun."
The fact that this drug supposedly treated 150 different medical ailments was what made it so unique.
According to his marketing, whether you suffered from illness or disease, or just needed a sexual stimulant, Radithor was the drug for you.
It consisted of distilled water to which a microcurie of radium 226 and radium 228 was added.
If the presence of radium wasn't enough of a draw for potential customers, Bailey used a couple of other incredibly effective marketing techniques.
- Anyone who could prove that the product had less Radium than he claimed would receive $1,000.
-To ensure that his customers trusted his product, he embarked on a "transparent" marketing strategy: he circulated articles that this radioactive drug had some mild unwanted side effects. Then brochures began to appear depicting "behind the scenes" images of the product's production.
He later proved that these photographs were fraudulent, thus silencing any buzz from the non-aligned scientific community.
Thanks to this successful marketing strategy, Radithor was sold in 400,000 bottles in the period from 1925 to 1930, and among the consumers were the mayor of New York James "Jimmy" Walker and the well-known mogul and golfer Eben Byers.
Eben Byers, the United States amateur golf champion, began using Radithor in December 1927, which provided enormous publicity for the radioactive drug.
He had suffered an injury and was not healing well when his doctor recommended that he try using Radithor to help him in the healing process.
And, at first, he seemed to deliver what he was promised.
Byers immediately noticed changes not only in his arm, but also in his energy level and muscle tone.
He proved so confident about that drug that he advocated it to everyone he came in contact with.
It was also reported that he gave samples of this drug to his business associates and went so far as to administer it to his racehorses in the hope that it would give them a competitive advantage.
Two years into his treatment with Radithor, he was consuming three bottles a day for a total consumption of as many as 1,400 bottles of the medicine.
However, a year later, in 1930, the negative effects of consuming massive doses of radioactive material began to become apparent.
Weight loss, toothache and headaches were some of the troubling symptoms described by Byers.
Given the importance of the character, they hastened to evaluate his condition.
To their horror they discovered that he was much sicker than they had supposed.
Both the radioactive drug, Radithor, and William Bailey came under investigation by the Federal Trade Commission.
An investigator reported: "His entire upper jaw, except two front teeth, and most of his lower jaw have been removed. All remaining bone tissue in his body is slowly disintegrating and holes are forming in his skull.
In 1932 Byers died a horribly painful death. His autopsy revealed that his bones and teeth were highly radioactive and so it was decided to bury him in a lead-lined coffin to prevent radiation from escaping.
33 years later, in 1965, his body was exhumed and found to still be highly radioactive.
This was after the Federal Trade Commission issued a cease-and-desist letter to Bailey.
But the shocking fact is that despite the Federal Trade Commission's investigation and Byers' death, many people continued to use Radithor until the 1930s, when the radioactive drug was finally pulled from the shelves. But it was too late as by this point over 400,000 bottles had been sold worldwide.
Bailey's company, The Radium Institute, was never prosecuted for Byers' death nor for the deaths and harm caused to those who used the drug they produced, but only for false advertising, an easy escape route.
But William Bailey in 1949, at the age of 64, died of bladder cancer.
When his body was exhumed almost 20 years later, he was found to be "ravaged by radiation".
