Sharon LANG
asked
Lydia Kang:
Hi Lydia, I have just finished listening to Patient Zero which I enjoyed very much. However I was disappointed with the discovery of Penicillin. You spoke of Sir Alexander Fleming but left out Australian scientist, Howard Florey (who shared the Nobel Prize for Medicine along with Fleming and Ernst Chain in 1945). Was this to shorten the story or an oversight?
Lydia Kang
We focused more on that earlier initial discovery by Fleming, but you are right, due to the structure and word limitations, unfortunately, Florey and Chain were left out. Thank you for listening and for writing in!
More Answered Questions
Sharon LANG
asked
Lydia Kang:
I have read many of your books now, spending my time reading whilst Vic, AU was in stage 4 lockdown for three months. You helped me get through the pandemic! My question is quite personal and I know it’s been a horrible year in the US, as well as the rest of us. Do you believe that the current trend to demonise opiates has parallels with attitudes to alcohol abuse which led to Prohibition and immense repercussions?
Quill
asked
Lydia Kang:
Potentially VERY personal question!: After reading Opium and Absinthe I'm given to wonder what the nature of your research into opiate/narcotic addiction was. Do you have personal (first or secondhand) experience, professional (given you're a doctor), or purely academic experience with it? (I've had personal -direct and indirect- experience, and found the portrayal of addiction/withdrawal/recovery extremely accurate!)
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