Drugs brought a new kind of precision, a molecule that fits one receptor like a key in a lock: insulin, sulfa drugs, penicillin, chlorpromazine and beta-blockers. But a pill has no address; it floods every organ and lingers. The episode follows the gains and the warnings, including thalidomide and the 1962 drug-safety law, and the long argument over the chemical-imbalance story of depression.
Who's who
- Paul Ehrlich+3 more episodesExtended his side-chain theory to drugs and the magic-bullet ideal
- John Newport LangleyCambridge physiologist who proposed a receptive substance in muscle
- Frederick BantingCo-leader of the Toronto insulin team; Nobel 1923
- Gerhard DomagkBayer pathologist who found Prontosil's antibacterial action
- Alexander FlemingObserved the antibacterial penicillin mold in 1928
- Henri LaboritFrench naval surgeon whose anesthetic cocktail led to chlorpromazine
- James BlackScottish pharmacologist who developed propranolol and cimetidine
- Frances Oldham KelseyFDA officer who refused to approve thalidomide
Where it happens
- Toronto, Canada+1 more episodeWhere insulin was first developed
- Val-de-Grâce hospital, Paris, FranceWhere Laborit used chlorpromazine
- Oxford, EnglandWhere Florey and Chain proved penicillin in mice
Timeline
- January 11, 1922Leonard Thompson receives the first insulin injection
- 1938Federal law requires proof of safety before drugs are marketed
- October 1, 1957Thalidomide goes on sale in West Germany
- 1961Thalidomide linked to birth defects and withdrawn
- October 10, 1962Kefauver-Harris Drug Amendments signed
- December 1987FDA approves fluoxetine
Still debated
Moncrieff's 2022 review found no consistent evidence that low serotonin causes depression, while Jauhar and colleagues in 2023 called the review flawed. How well antidepressants work, who deserves credit for chlorpromazine, and how general anesthetics produce unconsciousness are also argued.
