Dinitrophenol and obesity: an early twentieth-century regulatory dilemma
E Colman - Regulatory Toxicology and Pharmacology, 2007 - Elsevier
In the early 1930s, the industrial chemical dinitrophenol found widespread favor as a weight-
loss drug, due principally to the work of Maurice Tainter, a clinical pharmacologist from
Stanford University. Unfortunately the compound's therapeutic index was razor thin and it
was not until thousands of people suffered irreversible harm that mainstream physicians
realized that dinitrophenol's risks outweighed its benefits and abandoned its use. Yet, it took
passage of the Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act in 1938 before federal regulators had the …
loss drug, due principally to the work of Maurice Tainter, a clinical pharmacologist from
Stanford University. Unfortunately the compound's therapeutic index was razor thin and it
was not until thousands of people suffered irreversible harm that mainstream physicians
realized that dinitrophenol's risks outweighed its benefits and abandoned its use. Yet, it took
passage of the Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act in 1938 before federal regulators had the …