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According to the FDA, adverse drug events harmed or killed approximately 1,200,000 people in the United States in the year 2015.
Cocaine was isolated in 1860 and first used as a local anesthetic in 1884. Its first clinical use was by Sigmund Freud to wean a patient from morphine addiction. The fictional character Sherlock Holmes was supposed to be addicted to cocaine by injection.
Since 1988, the CDC has reported a 99% reduction in bacterial meningitis caused by Haemophilus influenzae, due to the introduction of the vaccine against it.
In the United States, an estimated 50 million unnecessary antibiotics are prescribed for viral respiratory infections.
More than 2,500 barbiturates have been synthesized. At the height of their popularity, about 50 were marketed for human use.