Radithor

Article summary

in New Mexico, United States Radithor was a radioactive patent medicine brand of distilled water containing at least each of the radium-226 and 228 isotopes, sold in bottles. In 1932, the illness and death of business magnate Eben Byers was unambiguously linked to his fervent use of Radithor, leading to the collapse of the radium fad and the strengthening of regulatory control of pharmaceutical and radioactive products in the United States. Introduced in 1918, Radithor was William J. A. Bailey's biggest commercial success, selling 400,000 bottles between 1925 and 1930. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued warnings against the use of Radithor but did not have the authority to ban it during this period.

Key claims

1. date of death: 1932 — source: Wikipedia · confidence 0.95
2. publication date: 1990 — source: Wikipedia · confidence 0.95

Discussion questions

1. Summarise the article in your own words. Which single claim would you verify first, and why?
2. The record states that the date of death is "1932". What evidence would count against this claim?
3. The record states that the publication date is "1990". What evidence would count against this claim?
4. Which claim in this article is most likely to be revised as the sources update? How would you check its current status?
5. If two sources disagreed about one of these facts, what would you need in order to trust one over the other?

Bibliography

1. Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1360458063