Methamphetamine for Hitler's Germany: 1937 to 1945.

Methamphetamine was synthesized in Germany in 1937 and commercially released in 1938. It became a popular stimulant for tired night workers and a recreational drug for young people until mid-1941 when it became a controlled substance. It was abused by the armed forces during World War II when it was distributed by some commanding officers (occasionally over the objections of the units' physicians) to prevent or treat the fatigue of exhausted troops and thus allow them to survive, despite the strict restrictions issued by the Army Inspectorate.

The early history of methadone. Myths and facts.

This review refutes some enduring myths surrounding the discovery of methadone and presents the known accurate facts of its creation and its early development in Germany, the United States and Great Britain from 1939 to the early 1960's.

Scophedal (SEE) was it a fad or a miracle drug?

The German firm E. Merck released in 1928, an injectable mixture of scopolamine, oxycodone, and ephedrine under the name SEE. This drug, renamed Scophedal in 1942 caused deep and prolonged analgesia, sedation, euphoria and amnesia without significant respiratory or circulatory depression.

The American Society of Regional Anesthesia: a concise history of the original group-its birth, growth, and eventual dissolution.

The history of the original American Society of the Regional Anesthesia is presented-its birth, growth, and eventual dissolution. Reasons for its dissolution are discussed.