S.E. Massengill Co.
Bristol, Tennessee
S.E. Massengill and his brother, Norman H. Massengill, founded the Massengill Brothers Company in 1897. Norman later left.
Samuel Evans "S.E." Massengill — Massengill, the son of a country doctor, is the father of the pharmaceuticals industry as we know it
in Tennessee. Though he graduated from the University of Nashville Medical School, Massengill never practiced medicine himself,
realizing early on he preferred producing the drugs physicians needed instead of listening to patients discuss their ailments. The S. E.
Massengill Pharmaceutical Co. formed in Bristol around the turn of the century, and was a national distributor of pharmaceuticals,
with branch operations in New York City, Kansas City and San Francisco. That distribution, though, tragically served as the platform for
Massengill's darkest hour. In 1937, the company attempted to improve on a popular sulpha drug used to treat infections by adding a
new solvent, diethylene glycol, creating a syrup form of the drug. (Diethylene glycol is a chemical cousin to anti-freeze.) The product
was reportedly not thoroughly tested before distribution (laws of the day didn't require it), and hundreds of shipments of the elixir
spread out across the country. Massengill recalled the drug, tracking down most shipments. But in the end, over 70 people in 15
states died, though not all deaths were attributable exclusively to Massengill's product. Massengill was prosecuted and fined for
mislabeling but not for the poisonings. The resulting backlash resuscitated the ailing FDA, granting it the teeth it has today. Passage of
the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act occurred within a year, requiring for the first time in American history that all new drugs be
certified before going to market. Massengill weathered tough times to remain in business, in large part due to the masterful work of
his son, the company's lawyer, in settling lawsuits. In 1971, long after his death, Massengill's grandson sold the company to Beecham.
It eventually became a part of what is now GlaxoSmithKline. Today, the Massengill name lives on in a brand of feminine hygiene
products.
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