Eben Byers

Biography

Eben Byers was a wealthy American industrialist and socialite whose life and death became a cautionary tale in the history of public health and patent medicine regulation. In the early twentieth century, he consumed significant quantities of Radithor, a radioactive patent medicine marketed as a health tonic, which ultimately led to his death from radiation poisoning in 1932.

His case drew widespread medical and public attention to the dangers of unregulated radioactive products and contributed to increased scrutiny of patent medicines and their claims.