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Cited by 3Healthcare RegulationHistory of Science and MedicineDrug-Induced Ocular Toxicity

Diet pills and the cataract outbreak of 1935: Reflections on the evolution of consumer protection legislation

Margo, Curtis E., Harman, Lynn E.·2014·Survey of Ophthalmology
DOI 10.1016/j.survophthal.2014.02.005
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Abstract

An outbreak of cataracts in 1935 caused by dinitrophenol (DNP), the active ingredient of popular diet pills, highlighted the inability of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to prevent harmful drugs from entering the marketplace. Just two years earlier, the FDA used horrific images of ocular surface injury caused by cosmetics at the World's Fair in Chicago to garner public support for legislative reform. The FDA had to walk a fine line between a public awareness campaign and lobbying Congress while lawmakers debated the need for consumer protection. The cataract outbreak of 1935 was conspicuous in the medical literature during the height of New Deal legislation, but questions persist as to how much it affected passage of the proposed Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (of 1938). The legislation languished in committee for years. The cataract outbreak probably had little impact on the eventual outcome, but medical opinion concerning the safety of DNP may have contributed to the voluntary withdrawal of the diet drug from the market. We review the DNP cataract outbreak and examine it in context of the challenges facing regulatory reform at that time.

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  • Reported side effects of DNP include acute cataract, sensory axonal polyneuropathy, fever, tachycardia, sweating, nausea, rash, breathing difficulties, abdominal pain, agitation, headache, and death.

    “The reported side effects of DNP include acute cataract [261,262], sensory axonal polyneuropathy [263], fever, tachycardia, sweating, nausea, rash, breathing difficulties, abdominal pain, agitation, headache, and death [264,265].”

    From Mitochondrial Uncoupling: A Key Controller of Biological Processes in Physiology and Diseases (2019) · cites this paper as [261]

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Authors
Margo, C. E., & Harman, L. E.
Affiliations
University of South Florida (US)
Corresponding author
Margo, Curtis E.
ORCID
Margo, Curtis E.
Venue
Survey of Ophthalmology
Publisher
Elsevier BV
Published
2014-09
Volume
59
Issue
5
Pages
568-573
ISSN
0039-6257 (ISSN-L)
DOI
10.1016/j.survophthal.2014.02.005
OpenAlex
W2123472989
Cited by
3
References
38
Citations by year
2024: 1 · 2021: 1 · 2019: 1
FWCI
0.00
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
closed
Licence
Locations
  • Survey of Ophthalmology (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
Topics
  • Health Sciences › Health Professions › Health Information Management › Healthcare Regulation
  • Social Sciences › Arts and Humanities › History and Philosophy of Science › History of Science and Medicine
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Ophthalmology › Drug-Induced Ocular Toxicity
Keywords
dinitrophenol, weight loss pills, Food and Drug Administration, consumer protection law, New Deal, ocular toxicity, cosmetic regulation, public health campaigns, congressional lobbying
MeSH terms
Cataract, Consumer Product Safety, Diet, Dinitrophenols, Disease Outbreaks, Humans, Legislation, Drug, United States, United States Food and Drug Administration, Anti-Obesity Agents, History, 20th Century

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