In the 1920s, radiation wasn't a danger; it was a cure-all. "Radithor," a patent medicine made of triple-distilled water and radium, promised to cure impotence, fatigue, and aging. Eben Byers, a wealthy industrialist and golf champion, loved it so much he drank three bottles a day. He recommended it to friends and even fed it to his racehorses. Then his teeth started falling out. Then his jaw came off. This is the gruesome but necessary story of the "Radithor" craze and the slow, agonizing death of its most famous advocate. It is a history of unregulated medicine, the public's fascination with the "energy" of the atom, and the tragedy that finally forced the government to regulate radioactive substances.
