Byers
Ebenezer McBurney Byers (born April 12, 1880 in Pittsburgh , † March 31, 1932 in New York ) was a wealthy American businessman, athlete and member of American high society . He became known in the 1930s because he died after taking the radium-containing drug Radithor for a long time .
The son of industrialist Alexander Byers studied at Yale College and was an American amateur golf champion in 1906. Byers was chairman of the Girard Iron Company , which his father founded.
After his arm was injured when he was returning from a Yale-Harvard football game in 1927 when he fell from a loft bed on the railroad, his physiotherapist Charles Clinton Moyar recommended the patented drug Radithor , manufactured by William JA Bailey, for the persistent pain was made by dissolving radium in water. Byers then ingested enormous doses of Radithor by 1930 (reportedly approximately 1,400 bottles), which resulted in his body ingesting three times the amount of radium that was believed to be lethal. The radium deposited in his bones, resulting in the loss of most of his lower jaw and brain damage. In 1932 he died of radium poisoning and was buried in Pittsburgh.
Byers' notoriety led to his death being discussed in the media. As a result, the dangers of radium and radioactivity received more attention and the powers of the Food and Drug Administration were expanded . The maker of Radithor, Bailey, has not been held accountable.
literature
- Len Elliott, Barbara Kelly: Who's Who in Golf. 1976, p. 32.
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b Radium Drinks , Time . April 11, 1932. Retrieved May 3, 2009.
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Byers, Exactly |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Byers, Eben McBurney (full name) |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | American entrepreneur |
| DATE OF BIRTH | April 12, 1880 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Pittsburgh |
| DATE OF DEATH | March 31, 1932 |
| Place of death | new York |