The discovery of aspirin: a reappraisal
Level 5 - mechanism / opinion, no new human data
Historical narrative review by design analogy, not clinical CEBM.
OpenAlex W2033644031 · doi:10.1136/bmj.321.7276.1591
What was done
A historical review examining the origin of the narrative surrounding Felix Hoffmann's synthesis and the commercialization of acetylsalicylic acid (aspirin) at Friedrich Bayer & Co.
What was found
No quantitative data are reported in the abstract. Pure acetylsalicylic acid was synthesized on 10 August 1897 and marketed under the trademark Aspirin in 1899. The common story that this was prompted by Hoffmann's rheumatic father originated decades later in a 1934 footnote written by retired chemist Albrecht Schmidt.
Why it matters
It highlights the late historical origins of the canonical discovery narrative of one of the world's most widely used pharmaceuticals.
Limits
This is a non-clinical, narrative historical paper without empirical or quantitative measurements. The abstract provides only background context and does not detail the primary source evidence evaluated in the full text.
Cited by
- context Aspirin was discovered in 1899 by the German company Bayer.