![]() ![]() Enthusiasm for anesthetic cocaine quickly waned in the medical community, however, as the number of patients dying of accidental overdoses during surgery soared. Pharmaceutical companies soon began marketing cocaine. As a result, most cataract patients endured excruciating pain.Īfter soaking the eye in a cocaine solution, Koller found that patients no longer flinched when the scalpel touched their eye. More than two decades later, Austrian ophthalmologist Carl Koller experimented with cocaine as a surgical anesthetic because cataract surgery was typically performed without anesthesia at the time.Įther and chloroform couldn’t be used because they made patients vomit-an obvious problem when performing delicate eye surgery. Advertisements claimed the popular drink could “restore health and vitality.” He noticed that the powdery white substance made his tongue feel numb.Īround the same time, French chemist Angelo Mariani concocted a tonic made from Bordeaux wine and coca leaves. German chemist Albert Nieman isolated cocaine from coca leaves in 1860.
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