Vladimir Marko was born in 1952 in Košice, Eastern Slovakia. He studied organic chemistry at Slovak Technical University and biochemistry at Comenius University, both in Bratislava. He finished his university studies in 1975 and PhD. studies in 1980.

From 1980 to 1991, Marko worked as a researcher in the Institute of Experimental Pharmacology of the Slovak Academy of Sciences in Bratislava. As a member of the Department of Pharmacokinetics, he was responsible for the determination of drugs in biological fluids. In that time, he published several scientific articles and was also an editor of a book dealing with drug determinations (Determination of Beta-Blockers in Biological Material, Elsevier Science Publishers, 1989).

In 1994, Marko began working for the Danish-based pharmacological company Lundbeck, first as a representative and later as the managing director for Slovakia. After nearly 20 years there, he retired in 2013.

A collection of short stories detailing the histories of the most well-known drugs of our time

Weaves together research from historical and archival sources, along with existing academic literature

Requires no prior knowledge of the drug industry

AcknowledgementsDedicationAbout the AuthorPreface1. Aspirin Story 1.1: The curious reverend and the bark of the willow Story 1.2: The three fathers and the two miracle drugs Story 1.3: The industrialist and his business Story 1.4: The great German patriot and the Great Phenol Plot Story 1.5: The man from New Zealand and marketing magic Story 1.6: The country doctor and medicinal gum Concluding remarks2. Quinine Story 2.1: The Countess of Chinchón and the Jesuit Bark Story 2.2: The successful charlatan and the miracle medicine Story 2.3: The two friends and the yellow cinchona Story 2.4: The unlucky adventurer and the alpacas Story 2.5: The two opposing scientists and the mosquitoes with spotted wings Concluding remarks3. Vitamin C Story 3.1: The famous admiral and scurvy Story 3.2: The ship's doctor and Murphy's Law Story 3.3: The snob and the 7,000 cannons Story 3.4: The Norwegian hygienist and guinea pigs Story 3.5: The Hungarian politician and Hungarian paprika Story 3.6: The hardworking chemist and the role of wine flies Concluding remarks 4. Insulin Story 4.1: The bold experimenter and sweet urine Story 4.2: The military doctor in Barbados and various diets Story 4.3: Two diabetologists, starvation, and Elizabeth the Iconic Story 4.4: The vivid scientist from Mauritius and the elixir of youth Story 4.5: The aspiring amateur and the elixir of life Story 4.6: The strong-minded scientist and her four hands Concluding remarks5. Penicillin Story 5.1: The doctor with stained hands and the magic bullet Story 5.2: The rejected Nobel Prize and saving young Hildegard Story 5.3:The Scottish bacteriologist and his return from vacation Story 5.4: Three Englishmen and the benefits of America Story 5.5: Stubborn Andy and the need for meat Story 5.6: The renowned health professional and ethical blindness Concluding remarks6. The Pill Story 6.1: Madame Restell and Fifth Avenue abortions Story 6.2: The revolutionary and birth control Story 6.3: The controversial biologist and his controversial experiments Story 6.4: The Catholic gynecologist and his futile hope Story 6.5: The three brilliant chemists Concluding remarks7. Chlorpromazine Story 7.1: The enlightened doctor and freeing the insane Story 7.2: Many attempts and difficult beginnings for treatment Story 7.3: A French thinker and his lytic cocktail Story 7.4: A professor, his assistant, and psychiatric penicillin Story 7.5: Psychoanalysis and the need to know foreign languages Concludingremarks8. Prozac Story 8.1: Two psychiatrists, a singing cyclist and dancing patients Story 8.2: Three chemists and three neurotransmitters Story 8.3: The role of the medicine box Story 8.4: How we forgot to grieve Concluding remarks9. Viagra Story 9.1: The autodidact of Delft and the penis's status in history Story 9.2: The son of a Russian vodka maker and elixirs of youth Story 9.3: The biggest charlatan and the deepest desires of men Story 9.4: A urologist drops his pants and what men are willing to endure Story 9.5: The big medicine producer and the farmer's beautiful daughter Concluding remarks10. Vaccines Story 10.1: A beautiful aristocrat and the Ottoman method Story 10.2: A wise farmer, a famous doctor and how vaccination got its name Story 10.3: A sick slave and the chain transfer of vaccines across the Atlantic Story 10.4: Two greats and only one Nobel Prize Story 10.5: "Sir Almost Wright" and military brains Story 10.6: The Righteous Among the Nations and lice feeders Story 10.7: The Somali cook and a huge victory Story 10.8: A gastroenterologist and one of the worst hoaxes in medicine Concluding remarks11. ConclusionSelected BibliographyIndex