For Mice, Not Men

No sooner had isoniazid established it self as a wonder drug in the treatment of tuberculosis (TIME, March 3, 1952) than another contender appeared: pyrazinamide, also called Aldinamide. Alone, it proved disappointing. But when the two drugs were given together, researchers at Manhattan's New York Hospital found, the combination had a truly amazing property: it was able to wipe out tuberculous infection in the spleens of mice whereas previous drugs or combinations had only arrested the growth of the bacilli. They thought they were on the brink of a momentous discovery.

But their colleagues tried the combination on human patients, and ran into a snag of which animal tests had given no warning. Six patients out of 60 suffered liver damage, in some cases severe, and one died. At a Veterans Administration TB conference in St. Louis, the researchers sadly reported: this prescription is great for mice, bad for men.

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