Bayer is a well-known pharmaceutical and chemical company in Germany with 120,000 employees. In 1999, it ranked 15th in the list of large German companies. Who would have thought that this world-famous company was actually the inventor and promoter of the drug heroin.
On August 21, 1897, Felix Hoffmann, a chemist at Bayer, synthesized a preparation called diacetylmorphine for the first time. At that time, Bayer leaders believed that this was a great invention that could be used to replace addictive narcotics such as morphine. Through initial pharmacological tests on fish, cats and other animals, diacetylmorphine produced no adverse reactions. As a result, Bayer transferred the test subjects to humans and forced company employees and family members to take the preparation. The results showed that diacetylmorphine had no lethal or addictive side effects. Therefore, less than a year after its invention, Bayer rushed diacetylmorphine onto the market without thorough clinical testing.
Bayer named its new product "heroin", which means "heroic new invention." By the 1930s, Bayer sold tons of high-purity heroin products, including powders, syrups, embolisms and synthetic agents, to the United States and more than 20 countries around the world. Heroin brought Bayer a huge amount of money. In 1898, Bayer's heroin sales were only 45 kilograms. Ten years later, this amount soared to 783 kilograms. In 1902, profits from heroin products accounted for 5% of the total profits of Bayer's pharmaceutical division that year. Since Bayer did not apply for a patent on heroin, driven by high profits, world-renowned pharmaceutical companies such as Sandoz also launched similar products. Doctors from various countries are also impressed by heroin, saying that it has "magical curative effects" and is effective in treating coughs, stomach cancer, depression, etc.
At that time, a few doctors raised objections, believing that heroin had not been rigorously verified and could be toxic and lead to addiction. In this regard, on the one hand, Bayer used suppression methods to suppress dissent; on the other hand, it used all its efforts to promote the heroin market. Bayer distributed heroin free of charge to doctors around the world for them to try. At the same time, Bayer also selected obedient doctors and produced numerous research reports on the efficacy of heroin. Bayer even placed an advertisement in the "German Doctor's Daily" stating that although heroin is a derivative of morphine, it is not addictive and can cure the widespread morphine addiction.
It was against this background that heroin became so popular that even lunatic asylums in Nepal used it as a sedative.
However, surprisingly, heroin, a modern recognized drug, did not cause large-scale addiction symptoms in Europe at the beginning of the 20th century. There are probably two reasons for this: First, people at that time did not know how to smoke or inject heroin. Patients take only a few milligrams orally at a time, which is less than 1/10 of the amount modern addicts inject in one injection. Second, it takes a long time for oral heroin to stimulate the brain nerves. Therefore, patients who take heroin not only do not get a huge pleasure immediately, but on the contrary, they feel pain is suppressed, so they will not take continuously or overdose.
However, in the United States, the largest importer of heroin, the situation has changed. In the early 20th century, the United States began to be flooded with drugs. 1/10 doctors are addicted to opium, and hundreds of thousands of people cannot live without morphine. As the heroin market expands, more and more addicts are turning their attention to this new product. After 1910, a large number of heroin addicts suddenly appeared in American hospitals. As a result, the U.S. government strengthened surveillance measures and restricted doctors' prescribing rights. The heroin trade had to go from open to underground, and prices skyrocketed. This has undoubtedly once again brought "good news" to heroin manufacturers such as Bayer. According to statistics, around 1920, the world's total demand for heroin was only two tons, but the annual output reached 9 tons.
However, the good times did not last long. As international anti-drug agreements became increasingly strict, Bayer and other manufacturers finally stopped the production of heroin after 1931, and there was no trace of heroin in pharmacies around the world.
Unfortunately, Hoffman, the inventor of heroin, did not see the rise and fall of his invention.
In 1946, Hofmann died alone in Switzerland, leaving no heirs and Bayer did not issue any obituary.
History is always ironic. Just 11 days before Hoffman invented heroin, he also developed aspirin in an accidental experiment. Aspirin, a great discovery in human medicine, was once considered too toxic by the leaders of Bayer Company and almost shelved it.
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