Penicillin: The Wonder Drug War

Everyone in their lifetime has either had a scrape or cut somewhere on their extremities, that have ranged from minor to severe. If not treated properly, those simple cuts and scrapes could easily lead to major infections. Although, today many cuts and scrapes do not become infections, there was once a time that even the simplest, little cut could kill you. History has shown that many deaths have come from deadly infections or other bacteria related incidents. Over the years, there have been many medical technological advances, but one of the most famous was penicillin, “The Wonder Drug”. The drug, that was never suppose to exist and was almost disposed of, has revolutionized the way we treat infections. The effects of penicillin have been …show more content…
Even though the Axis powers didn’t have unlimited resources like the Allies, one of the biggest benefits was with Adolf Hitler. It was believed that the Allies had planned an assassination attempt on Hitler. During this attempt, something went wrong and their attack had failed miserably, along with the Axis powers gaining access to Allie’s penicillin. It is said that the Axis powers had gained the penicillin by Hitler’s doctor, Theodre Movell, and other high ranked officials connections to Spain, where Allies had been sending mass shipment for troops (“Hitler’s Penicillin”). Hitler had received an infection due to the failed attack and was fighting for his life. Movell had seen the positive outlooks that the Allies were having with their troops fighting infections, that he decided he needed to get his hands on some to save his leader’s life. After seeing the outcome of how penicillin cured Hitler’s infection, he decided that penicillin was needed to help their military needs for the war. Movell went to the large companies and tried to convince them to produce large amounts of penicillin (“Hitler’s Penicillin”). The large companies for the Axis powers believed that the use of sulfonamides were more effective to win the war. Unfortunately, even though the companies agreed to produce the penicillin, they were not able to keep up with the Allies’ production and the Axis power’s troops suffered in result of lack of penicillin being produced (“Hitler’s Penicillin”). Not only did the Axis powers not produce enough penicillin, but the penicillin that was produced was weak and sometimes not effective, unlike the highly successful and strong penicillin that the Allies produced. As a result, the lack of penicillin, Axis troops suffered greatly from infections, such as venereal disease, the Allied powers had a