Jaundiced for the Cause

In today’s edition of NtHWS Extras, we’re taking a look at a nearly forgotten medical tale from World War II: The widespread use of Atabrine to combat malaria, with varying results.

This story starts all the way back in the 19th century, with a bunch of Dutch smugglers who brought Cinchona seeds from South America to Indonesia (then the Dutch East Indies). Cinchona is the source of quinine, the most effective anti-malarial agent then known. It had long been manufactured in Peru, but the Indonesia