Many Drugs are proved fatal in past. It is interesting to know about such drugs and be careful.

2. Alexander the Great 356 - 323 BC
• Died young in spite of good health
• Poisoned by a wine made from the
plant Veratrum album, known as
white hellebore.
• Alexander’s doctors accidentally
overdosed while trying to cure him
• ‘Hellebore, despite its dangers,
was the favourite prescription of
many ancient doctors because of
its violent purgative effects’

4. Vincent van Gogh
• Dutch post-impressionist
Painter, appreciated only after
his death
• Painted almost 2100 paintings
• He wrote over 800 letters to his
brother during his lifetime.
• He was born with a brain
lesion and was labelled as
‘Depression’

5. Health Problems
• Van Gogh suffered from seizures which doctors
believed to be caused by temporal lobe epilepsy.
• His physician treated his epilepsy with digitalis
which can cause one to see in yellow or see
yellow spots.

6. • For epilepsy, anxiety and depression, Van Gogh
drank ‘Absinthe’, a popular toxic alcoholic drink
• Thujone, a toxin in absinthe can cause objects in
yellow? Linked to crimes and social disorder.
• Lead poisoning from nibbling at paint chips.
• Hypergraphia is causing one to write continuously
Medical controversy
• Was there a
Psychological
problem really?

7. • Van Gogh cut off a portion of his ear
and commits himself to a mental
asylum in Saint Rémy - 1880
• His most famous paintings are made
in the asylum (?)
Tragic End…
• 1890 - July 29 - Vincent Van Gogh
died of a self-inflicted gunshot
• The Physician left him bleeding at
home, went to call a surgeon.

9. King George III (1738 – 1820)
• King of the United Kingdom of
Great Britain and Ireland
• King for 50 yrs
• Series of military conflicts
involving his kingdoms
• War against France – Napoleon
• George III was a dedicated and
diligent king, and won the respect
of his politicians.
• Blamed for loosing American
colonies

10. Mad king who lost America
• 1776, American Revolutionary War
• Americans declared themselves free,
but George kept the war going till 1783
• George III, often repeated his words
and his vocabulary was much more
complex
• He wrote a sentence containing 400
words and eight verbs
• He suffered severe abdominal pains

11. Later Life of George III
• George had a learning disability
which caused him to have
temporary lapses in judgment
and episodes of insanity.
• He tried to smash his eldest son
George’s head against a wall
• He was labelled ‘Insane’
• He was placed in a straitjacket
and an iron chair was specially
designed to restrain him.

12. • He had dementia after the death of
his daughter
• With cataract, he was almost blind
• In severe pains of rheumatism
• Suffered for last 8 yrs. of his life
• Never realised deaths of his wife
and son
• When he died in January of 1820,
he died angry, bitter, and half mad
Last 8 yrs of George III

13. Wrong Diagnosis, Wrong Treatment
• George III suffered from porphyria, that has run in the
British Royal Family.
• Porphyria causes paralysis, delirium, hypertension, acute
abdominal pain and purple color urine.
• 2005 - King George's hair had high
concentrations of arsenic. It was
due to liberal doses of emetic tartar
given to him.
• Arsenic made his predisposition
to porphyria far worse.
• ? Manic-depressive psychosis

14. Hollywood Hit…
• Award-winning 1994 film
• ‘The Madness Of King George’
• Played by Nigel Hawthorne.

15. Medicine Advertisements

16. Deaths due to Drugs

17. Learning Lesson
• When,
– Medicines produce more ill-health than health
– Medical intervention does more harm than good

18. Do You Know this?
Drug Withdrawn Reason
Thalidomide 1950s–60s Teratogenicity
LSD 1950s–60s used recreationally
Diethylstilbestrol 1970s Teratogenicity
Phenformin and Buformin 1978 Lactic acidosis
Astemizole 1999 Arrhythmias due of interactions
Levamisole 1999 Agranulocytosis
Troglitazone 2000 Hepatotoxicity
Cisapride 2000 Cardiac arrhythmias
Cerivastatin 2001 Rhabdomyolysis
Rofecoxib 2004 Myocardial infarction
Inhaled insulin 2007 Long term safety
Rimonabant 2008 Depression and suicide
Sibutramine 2010 Cardiovascular risk
Rosiglitazone 2010 Heart attacks and death

19. Banned, still available?
Drug Brand Name Reason
Analgin Novalgin Bone Marrow
Depression
Nimesulide Nise Liver Damage
Phenylpropanolamine D Cold, Action 500 Brain
Haemorrhage
Cispride Ciza Arrhythmia
Furazolidine Furoxone Cancer
Quinidochlor Enteroquinol Vison Errors
Nitrofurazone Furacin Cancer