How Ancient Cure-Alls Paved the Way for Drug Regulation
The following is a summary of the article, How Ancient Cure-Alls Paved the Way for Drug Regulation. The Atlantic. Jan 10, 2017.
According to Carly Silver at The Atlantic, poisons have been used since ancient times in many civilizations, mainly for hunting. But as the use of poison became more widespread, especially in the Roman Empire, it was more commonly used for assassinations. It was not until Mithridates, the king of Pontus, realized the danger of poisons and wanted something done about it. Mithridates wanted to create a universal antidote that would be a “foolproof remedy to toxins”. He cultivated unique poisons and tested them on criminals and would try to figure out different ways to counteract the poisonous effect. He eventually came up with a potion, mithridatium, which he would take every day mixed with small amounts of poison. He believed that his potion would improve his health as well as act as an immunization against poisons. He eventually died after fighting against the Romans for control of more land.
The Romans found Mithridates’ medical mantle and decided to improve upon his original recipe. A Roman physician, Andromachus, created a new version called theriac which was essentially the same as mithridatium but with slightly different and more potent ingredients. After prescribing theriac to the emperor, its popularity increased and as the years went on, different recipes for ‘universal antidotes’ began to circulate worldwide. Centers of trade and shops began to supply expensive antidotes but as the prices for ingredients were raised, poorer apothecaries began to produce and sell cheap versions of the expensive remedy. In order to prevent this, city authorities and unions began to supervise and inspect the production of such remedies, eventually “forming the foundation for modern drug regulation”.
This popular press article summary was written for a Vassar College 2017 Spring course called Sex, Gender, and the History of Medicine. It was part of a unit on Ancient Greek and Roman Medicine.
