Laetrile, also known as Amygdalin, is a drug falsely promoted as a cure for cancer.
History
When Edgar Jacobi was diagnosed with prostate cancer in 1985, he used Laetrile to treat his condition. Rorschach, searching Moloch's place, finds it, declaring it an illegal substance. Edgar begs him not to confiscate it saying that he does not have "...the kind of cancer you eventually get better from...".
Trivia
- Laetrile was first isolated in 1830. In 1845 it was used as a cancer treatment in Russia, and in the 1920s in the United States, but it was considered too poisonous. In the 1950s, a purportedly non-toxic, synthetic form was patented for use as a meat preservative, and later marketed as laetrile for cancer treatment. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration prohibited the interstate shipment of amygdalin and laetrile in 1977. Thereafter, 27 U.S. states legalized the use of amygdalin within those states. Laetrile was eventually banned in the United States in 1963 and in 1982, it was declared an illegal substance by the Food and Drug Administration.
- In Alan Moore's miniseries, the drug's name is misspelled as "Laetril".
