Radithor
Encyclopedia
Radithor was a patent medicine
(snake oil
) that is a well known example of radioactive quackery
. It consisted of triple distilled water containing at a minimum 1 uCi each of the radium
226 and 228 isotopes.
. The owner of the company and head of the laboratories was listed as Dr. William J. A. Bailey
, a dropout from Harvard College
, who was not a medical doctor. It was advertised as "A Cure for the Living Dead" as well as "Perpetual Sunshine".
Eben Byers
died from Radithor radiation poisoning
in 1932.
The The Wall Street Journal wrote an article called "The Radium Water Worked Fine Until His Jaw Came Off". Byer's death led to the strengthening of the Food and Drug Administration
's powers and the demise of most radiation quack cures.
Patent medicine
Patent medicine refers to medical compounds of questionable effectiveness sold under a variety of names and labels. The term "patent medicine" is somewhat of a misnomer because, in most cases, although many of the products were trademarked, they were never patented...
(snake oil
Snake oil
Snake oil is a topical preparation made from the Chinese Water Snake , which is used to treat joint pain. However, the most common usage of the phrase is as a derogatory term for quack medicine...
) that is a well known example of radioactive quackery
Radioactive quackery
Radioactive quackery refers to various products sold during the early 20th century, after the discovery of radioactivity, which promised radioactivity as a cure for various illnesses...
. It consisted of triple distilled water containing at a minimum 1 uCi each of the radium
Radium
Radium is a chemical element with atomic number 88, represented by the symbol Ra. Radium is an almost pure-white alkaline earth metal, but it readily oxidizes on exposure to air, becoming black in color. All isotopes of radium are highly radioactive, with the most stable isotope being radium-226,...
226 and 228 isotopes.
History
Radithor was manufactured from 1918 to 1928 by the Bailey Radium Laboratories, Inc., of East Orange, New JerseyEast Orange, New Jersey
East Orange is a city in Essex County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census the city's population 64,270, making it the state's 20th largest municipality, having dropped 5,554 residents from its population of 69,824 in the 2000 Census, when it was the state's 14th most...
. The owner of the company and head of the laboratories was listed as Dr. William J. A. Bailey
William J. A. Bailey
William John Aloysius Bailey was a Harvard University dropout who falsely claimed to be a doctor of medicine, and who promoted the use of radioactive radium as a cure for coughs, flu, and other common ailments...
, a dropout from Harvard College
Harvard College
Harvard College, in Cambridge, Massachusetts, is one of two schools within Harvard University granting undergraduate degrees...
, who was not a medical doctor. It was advertised as "A Cure for the Living Dead" as well as "Perpetual Sunshine".
Eben Byers
Eben Byers
Eben McBurney Byers was a wealthy American socialite, athlete, and industrialist. Byers earned notoriety in the early 1930s when he died from radiation poisoning after consuming a popular patent medicine made from radium dissolved in water.-Biography:The son of industrialist Alexander Byers, Eben...
died from Radithor radiation poisoning
Radiation poisoning
Acute radiation syndrome also known as radiation poisoning, radiation sickness or radiation toxicity, is a constellation of health effects which occur within several months of exposure to high amounts of ionizing radiation...
in 1932.
The The Wall Street Journal wrote an article called "The Radium Water Worked Fine Until His Jaw Came Off". Byer's death led to the strengthening of the Food and Drug Administration
Food and Drug Administration
The Food and Drug Administration is an agency of the United States Department of Health and Human Services, one of the United States federal executive departments...
's powers and the demise of most radiation quack cures.