Black Market For Children’s Lives in Manhattan

Manhattan DA Frank Hogan was investigating the unlicensed sale at black market price of the newest "miracle drug," streptomycin, to a physician treating a 14-year-old girl at St. Clare's Hospital at 415 West 51st Street near Tenth Avenue. The young girl was suffering from bacterial endocarditis, which was nearly always fatal before the advent of antibiotics. Streptomycin had been discovered recently and was being manufactured in “minute quantities.” The government rigidly controlled its distribution.

The doctor had been treating the girl since March 27. He had requested the drug through the established government channels but was turned down. A consultant put him contact with another doctor, supposedly a “local control officer,” who offered to sell him the drug for $100 a dose plus a $25 consulting fee (about $1,100 in 2008 dollars). The doctor bought two doses and administered it to his patient who responded to the treatment. When the physician went back to buy a third dose, he was told the price had risen to $150. The doctor then called the mayor of Rahway, NJ, where the drug's manufacturer, Merck, had a plant. The mayor looked into it and discovered that the drug was being bootlegged. He in turn called Hogan's office. More on this from The Sunday Times.