Ebenezer Byers was a well known American socialite, son of industrialist Alexander Byers.
Eben travelled frequently around the US to watch teams play.
A bottle of Radithor at the National Museum of Nuclear Science & History in New Mexico.
Photo credit:Sam LaRussa/Wikimedia
Radithor was invented by William J.
A. Bailey, a Harvard University dropout who falsely claimed to be a doctor of medicine.
Bailey promoted Radithor as a metabolic stimulant and aphrodisiac.
A box of 24 such bottles cost $30.
Byers averaged three bottles a day.
In the beginning, he felt invigorated and full of energy.
But slowly, the drink began to lose its magic.
He started losing weight, had severe headaches, and his teeth began falling out.
Eben Byers in 1903.
Immediately, a cry went out to investigate Radithor.
Attorney Winn found Byers in a pitiable condition.
Young in years and mentally alert, he could hardly speak.
His head was swathed in bandages.
Byers died a gruesome death six months later.
Autopsy revealed that he had only six teeth left.
Both jaws were rotted.
His brain was abscessed.
His kidneys had failed.
Distributed through his bones were 36 micrograms of radium.
Ten micrograms is a fatal dose.
Byers’s death received widespread publicity generating much awareness among the public of the dangers of radium poisoning.
But there were still many who kept their faith in the healing power of radium.
I never had a death among my patients for radium treatment, Dr. Moyar announced.
Byers, he declared, died from a combination of blood diseases which had induced gout.
Bailey was never tried for the death of Byers, allowing him to continue promoting his quack treatments.
Bailey made a fortune selling his many devices and products, and died a wealthy man.
