The radiotoxicology of Radithor. Analysis of an early case of iatrogenic poisoning by a radioactive patent medicine
R. M. Macklis, M. R. Bellerive and J. L. Humm
Joint Center for Radiation Therapy, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115.
Radithor was a radioactive patent medicine that was touted as a metabolic
stimulant and aphrodisiac. We have obtained several original samples of
Radithor and have used these historical specimens and a computer-based
calculation model to perform a retrospective analysis of a famous case of
Radithor-related radium poisoning. Our data suggest that the victim's
cumulative skeletal radiation dose may have exceeded 350 Sv by the time he
died. This figure far exceeds most current estimates of what radiation
exposure level would constitute a rapidly lethal dose if given acutely. The
physiological response to longterm internal radiation exposure and the
highly localized nature of alpha particle irradiation may require the
development of new models for the assessment of risk in cases of internal
alpha particle irradiation.
