Arthur Hailey - Strong Medicine

Celia said unhappily, "You make me wish I hadn't asked.”

Thus, less than a month before what had been foreseen as a strong but dignified introduction of Peptide 7, Celia was weary, dismayed and apprehensive. In Britain, Martin was in deep despair.

"As it turned out," Celia was apt to reminisce much later, "we really did have problems----extremely serious ones--during the early months after Peptide Ts introduction. Among all of us in charge at Felding-Roth there were plenty of tense, anxious hours, biting of fingernails, and sleepless nights. Yet the strange thing was, the problems that happened were not the ones we expected.”

Then she would laugh and add, "What it all showed is that you can never be certain how people will react to anything.” The problems Celia referred to concerned supply. From the moment Peptide 7 was available-obtainable, with a doctor's prescription, from druggists-for months there was never enough to meet the amazing, unprecedented demand. Long lines formed in front of pharmacy counters, and when customers were turned away because supplies ran out, they would go to other drugstores and stand in lines there. A reason that was revealed later-this time quoting Bill Ingram -was that "the damn doctors and druggists were using the stuff themselves and cornering some of the rest for friends.”

The shortage, which for a while was desperate, occurred in Britain as well as the United States. Long-timers in the company had never known anything like it. It resulted in frantic phone calls between New Jersey, Ireland, Harlow, Puerto Rico, Chicago and Manchester-the last two where plastic containers were being made and finger pumps assembled. Puerto Rico in particular, said a Felding-Roth purchasing agent, was "always screaming for containers, which they filled and shipped as fast as they came in.”

Both the Irish and Puerto Rican plants were working around the clock, with extra shifts. At the same time, chartered jet aircraft flew on several occasions from Ireland to Puerto Rico, carrying the precious active Peptide 7 ingredient. It was Ingram who bore the brunt of that difficult time, overseeing all arrangements while, in his words, "We lived from hand to mouth, juggling what supplies we had, trying to keep the multitudes who demanded Peptide 7 as happy as we could.”

Then, looking back on those frantic days, he too would laugh, the anxiety long behind him, and say, "Bless everybody, though! All of our people pitched in, doing everything they could. Even those doctors and druggists, playing favorites, helped Peptide 7 become the golden success it is.”

The word golden was appropriate. As Fortune magazine headlined a feature article a year after the new drug swept, like a tornado, upon the pharmaceutical scene:

FELDING-ROTH FINDS RICH IS BETTER

Fortune estimated that the first year of Peptide 7 sales would bring in revenues of six hundred million dollars. That and earlier estimates caused Felding-Roth shares, traded on the New York Stock Exchange, to go, in one broker's words, "through the roof into the stratosphere.”

Immediately after the drug's introduction the share price tripled in a month, doubled again within a year, and redoubled during the eight months following. After that, directors voted for a five-to-one split to keep the share price within a reasonable trading range. Even so, when accountants finished their arithmetic, the Fortune estimate proved low by a hundred million dollars. Something else Fortune said was, "Not since SmithKline's remarkable ulcer drug, Tagamet, was introduced in 1976 has there been any industrial product comparable with the phenomenon of Peptide 7.”

The success was not confined to money. Thousands upon thousands of middle-aged and elderly men and women were taking the drug, spraying it into nasal passages twice daily and proclaiming that they felt better, their memories were sharper, their general vigor enhanced. When asked if "vigor" included sexual energy, some replied frankly, yes, while others smiled, declaring that to be a private matter. The enhanced memory factor was regarded by medical experts as the most important. People taking Peptide 7 who once suffered from forgetfulness now remembered things. Many who previously had difficulty in recalling other people's names found that problem disappearing. Telephone numbers were recollected without effort. Husbands who formerly forgot them began remembering their wives' birthdays and wedding anniversaries. One elderly gentleman claimed to have memorized, without even trying, an entire local bus schedule. When put to the test by friends, he proved it true. Psychologists who devised "before and after" memory checks confirmed to their satisfaction that Peptide 7 worked. Though considered secondary to memory, the drug's anti-obesity effect quickly became indisputable and advantageous. Fat people, including those in lower age groups, lost unwanted weight and gained in general health. The effect was soon so widely accepted medically that Felding-Roth applied, in the United States, Britain and Canada, for an official weight-loss "indication" to be added to Peptide Ts authorized use. There seemed little doubt the applications would be approved. Throughout the world, other countries were rushing to approve Peptide 7 and obtain supplies. It was too early yet to know whether the drug would reduce the incidence of Alzheimer's disease. Such knowledge was several years away, but many lived in hope. One critical question was being asked. Was Peptide 7 being over- prescribed, as had happened with other medications in the past? The answer: almost certainly, yes. Yet what made Peptide 7 different from those others was that even when not needed, it did no harm. It was not addicting. Incredibly, adverse reports about its effects were almost nil. One woman wrote from Texas, complaining that each time she took a dose, and afterward had sexual intercourse, she ended with a headache. The report was passed routinely by Felding-Roth to the FDA, and also investigated. The matter was dropped when it was discovered the woman's age was eighty-two. A California man went to Small Claims Court, demanding that Felding-Roth be made to pay for a new wardrobe since his previous clothes were no longer usable after Peptide 7 caused him to lose thirty pounds of weight. The claim was contested and dismissed. Nothing more serious was reported. As for doctors, their enthusiasm seemed to have no limits. They recommended Peptide 7 to patients as being beneficial, safe, and one of history's great medical advances. Hospitals were using it. Doctors who enjoyed active social lives rarely went out to dinner or to a cocktail party without a prescription pad in pocket, knowing they would be asked for Peptide 7, and that obliging a host or hostess, or their friends, could lead to other invitations. On the subject of doctors, Celia said to Andrew, "For once you were wrong. Doctors weren't put off by all that publicity. In fact, it seems to have helped.”

"Yes, I was wrong," her husband admitted, "and you'll probably remind me of it for the rest of my life. But I'm happy to be wrong, and happiest of all for you, my love. You-and Martin, of coursedeserve everything that's come about.”

The publicity seemed to continue unabated, perhaps, Celia thought, because Peptide 7 was causing so much renewal of human happiness. In newspapers there were frequent references to the drug's effects, and on television it was talked about often. Bill Ingram reminded Celia, "You once told me the nature of TV would help us one day. It certainly has.”

Ingram, who had been promoted a year earlier to executive vice president, was carrying much of the load that Celia formerly had. Celia's main preoccupation nowadays was what to do with the money that was pouring in and, presumably, would continue to accumulate for years to come. Seth Feingold, now retired, had been retained as a consultant and appeared occasionally. During one meeting with Celia, a year and a half after Peptide Ts U.S. introduction, Seth cautioned, "You have to speed up decisions about how to spend some of that cash. If you don't, too much will be swallowed by taxes.”