In response to Byers death and several other notable tragedies (e.g. Since it was virtually impossible to prove such a thing as safe, this had the result of putting many radioactive manufacturers out of business (although some devices did slip through the cracks).
#AMERICAN RADIUM LABORATORIES CRACK#
The case also prompted the FDA to crack down heavily on radioactive medicines and devices, requiring proof of their safety and effectiveness. Neither William Bailey nor Bailey Radium Laboratories were ever held responsible for Byer's death but the company was shut down by the Federal Trade Commission.
In 1965, his remains which were exhumed for a scientific study were found to still be highly radioactive (measuring 225,000 becquerels). His death was attributed to radiation poisoning. Unfortunately for Byers, he died shortly afterwards in 1932 and was buried in a lead-lined coffin. What was initially trumpeted as “an elixir of youth” was exposed for the “bottle of death” it truly was. In 1931, the Federal Trade Commission issued a cease and desist order halting Bailey Radium Laboratories from producing Radithor and deemed that every bottle was to be withdrawn from public use. They also noted that he was "young in years and mentally alert" but that "all the remaining bone tissue of his body was disintegrating and holes were actually forming in his skull". The report by the lawyers cited that Byers "whole upper jaw, excepting his two front teeth and most of his lower jaw had been removed". Byers, was too sick to travel at the time so the commission sent a lawyer to take statements at his home. To substantiate their claims, they asked Byers to testify about his experience. At the same time, in 1931, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) were actively investigating the effects of “radium cures” and filed a complaint accusing Bailey Laboratories of false advertisement. The toxic effects of Radithor were not going unnoticed by the newly formed US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) who at the time was running an investigation on Radithor and its significant levels of radioactivity. He was, in every sense of the word, decaying from the inside out. Shortly afterwards, he began to lose weight, suffered chronic headaches and eventually lost his teeth and lower jaw. In late October 1930, Byers stopped taking Radithor when he felt that the effects had started to quickly fade. Sources cite, that he widely recommended it to friends, family and colleagues. At the time, Byers claimed to have felt “invigorated” from the radium-infused water and even claimed that it gave him a "toned up" effect. It is believed that Byers consumed three half-ounce bottles of Radithor every day for three years (an estimated 1,400 bottles of Radithoir). In 1927, he was prescribed Radithor for managing his pain after a fall from a railway sleeping birth by a well known Pittsburg psychiatrist. Even without his medical degree, Bailey rose to prominence as an inventor/entrepreneur and became a millionaire from the manufacture and sale of Radithor which he touted "stimulated the endocrine system” and claimed was a “cure for the living dead”.Įbenezer Byers, a wealthy American socialite, sportsman and steel mogul was initially a big advocate of radioactive water. Bailey, who falsely claimed to be a doctor of medicine (he dropped out from his medical studies at Harvard after three semesters).
Radithor was manufactured by Bailey Radium Laboratories a company founded by William J.A. It was just one of an array of Radium Water 'therapies' on the market at the time and was widely prescribed by physicians to treat a myriad of illnesses ranging from moderate pain to headaches and in some cases, impotence. Can you imagine a time when 'energy' drinks actually contained, well, actual radioactive energy?Īs part of my deep dive into some notable cases of medical quackery, I recently came across the twisted tale of the patent medicine Radithor, which was widely available in the early 1920s and created by dissolving high concentrations of Radium 226 and 228 isotopes (yes, really) in distilled water.
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