Introduction - Uppsala Monitoring Centre

some of the herbs: hellebore, hemlock, strophanthus, but not for
belladonna, henbane or poppy. There are 8 herbs suggested for the
treatment of syphilis and 12 for gonorrhoea, despite the fact that it
was known that both could be cured with penicillin. Herbal medicine
at that time had not taken cognisance of the progress that had been
made in pharmacology, pathology, biochemical investigations and
medicine over the previous 100 years.
1951 ‘Schadelijke nevenwerkingen van Geneesmiddelelen ‘[Harmful side
effects of some medicines] (192 pages) published in the Netherlands
by L Meyler.
UK Dangerous Drugs Act controlled vegetable narcotics, such as
Cannabis sativa (cannabis) and opium, and a few chemically related
synthetic substances.
1952 English version of Meyler’s book ‘Side Effects of Drugs’ was
published. Only 268 pages compared with 14th edition, 1876 pages.
The American Medical Association Council on Pharmacy and
Chemistry established the first official registry of adverse drug effects
to collect cases of drug-induced blood dyscrasias (Strom, 2000),
which became the Registry on Adverse Drug Reactions in 1961.
Dr George Discombe said ‘I believe that there is a need for a small
standing committee of clinical and forensic pathologists, whose terms
of reference should be: “To collect evidence on the production of
injurious effects by drugs administered for therapeutic purposes; to
deduce from this, and any other evidence available, whether the
therapeutic value of any such drug is great enough to warrant its
continued use; and to submit representations and recommendations
to the Poisons Board on the regulations for the manufacture, sale,
advertising, packaging, labelling, or prescription of drugs which have
been shown to produce injurious effects”.’ (Discombe, 1952).
1953 Renal damage by Phenacetin suspected. Chronic use of Phenacetin
is known to lead to renal papillary necrosis and is implicated in
analgesic nephropathy (see under regulatory responses).
Publication of ‘Maladies Médicamenteuses d’ordre thérapeutique et
accidentel’ [Drug-induced diseases of a therapeutic and accidental
nature] by C. Albahary. This book of 751 pages was written two
months after Meyler’s Side Effects of Drugs. Sodium salicylate
figures largely in the French version. It is in narrative form and covers
the investigations required and treatment and is obviously aimed at
the clinician.