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Subacute myelo-optic neuropathy

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Medical condition
Subacute myelo-optic neuropathy
SpecialtyNeurology

Subacute myelo-optic neuropathy (SMON) is an iatrogenic disease of the nervous system leading to a disabling paralysis, blindness and even death. Its defining manifestation was as an epidemic in Japan during the 1960s: the Japanese government estimated 11,000 were affected; however, the College of Medicine at the University of Tokyo put the number at 30,000, citing a lack of preservation of medical records for longer than five years and a lack of cooperation from doctors as the reasons for the discrepancy. On August 3, 1978, the Tokyo District Court ruled that the cause of SMON is Clioquinol. Its manufacturer, Ciba-Geigy, has publicly stated that "Medical products manufactured and sold by us have been responsible for the occurrence of in Japan, we extend our apologies."

SMON was first observed and diagnosed in Sweden 1966, by the pediatrician and neurologist Olle Hansson. Clioquinol was marketed as a prophylaxis to tourist diarrhoea. Dr. Olle Hansson was in the front line, fighting for a ban of clioquinol. Doctors in many countries boycotted Ciba-Geigy for many years. Not until 1985 was the pharmaceutical withdrawn. Dr Hansson died a few months later. The day of his death, May 23, is observed as the Anti-Hazardous Drug Day in several parts of the world.

References

  1. Takasu T (November 2003). "". Rinsho Shinkeigaku. 43 (11): 866–9. PMID 15152488.
  2. Lenzer, Jeanne (2 January 2018). "When a Medical "Cure" Makes Things Much, Much Worse". Smithsonian. Washington, D.C. Retrieved 11 January 2018.
  3. ^ Tiranti, Dexter (1 January 1981). "The Devil's Alternative". New Internationalist. Oxford. Retrieved 11 January 2018.
  4. Hansson, Olle: Inside Ciba-Geigy, 1989

Further reading

  • Reisaku Kono, "Relation between Subacute Myelo-Optic Neuropathy (S.M.O.N.) and Clioquinol: Nationwide Survey", The Lancet, V301, I7796, January 27, 1973, pp. 171–173
  • Reisaku Kono, "The S.M.O.N. Virus Theory", The Lancet, V306, I7930, August 23, 1975, pp. 370–371
  • Reisaku Kono, Yoshigoro Kuroiwa, "Subacute Myelo-Optic Neuropathy is not a special form of multiple sclerosis", The Lancet, V320, I8292, July 31, 1982, p. 267
  • Hansson, Olle: "Inside Ciba-Geigy". IOCU 1989. ISBN 967-9973-26-3.


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