The English physician William Withering is credited with the first published description of the use of Digitalis derivatives in his 1785 book An Account of the Foxglove and some of its Medical Uses With Practical Remarks on Dropsy and Other Diseases. Its effects were first explained by Arthur Robertson Cushny. The name is derived from that of digitoxin, which explains its pronunciation. In 1930, Digoxin was first isolated by Dr. Sydney Smith from the foxglove plant, Digitalis lanata. Initially, the digoxin was purified by dissolving the dried plant material in acetone and boiling the solution in chloroform. The solution was then reacted with acetic acid and small amount of ferric chloride and sulfuric acid (Keller reaction). Digoxin was distinguishable from other glucosides by the olive-green colored solution produced from this reaction, completely free of red. Society and culture
Charles Cullen admitted in 2003 to killing as many as 40 hospital patients with overdoses of heart medication—usually digoxin—at hospitals in New Jersey and Pennsylvania over his 19-year career as a nurse. On March 10, 2006, he was sentenced to 18 consecutive life sentences and is not eligible for parole.On April 25, 2008, the U.S. Federal Drug Administration (FDA) issued a press release alerting the public to a Class I recall of Digitek, a brand of digoxin produced by Mylan. Some tablets had been released at double thickness and therefore double strength, causing some patients to experience digoxin toxicity.
Unlike GnRH agonists and older GnRH antagonists, which are peptides and first-generation GnRH modulators, elagolix is not a GnRH analogue as it is not structurally related to GnRH. Elagolix was the first second-generation and orally active GnRH modulator to be introduced for medical use. The introduction of elagolix in the United States and Canada was followed by that of relugolix (brand name Relumina), the next second-generation GnRH antagonist, in Japan in January 2019. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) considers it to be a first-in-class medication. Medical uses
Elagolix is used in the treatment of moderate to severe pain associated with endometriosis in premenopausal women. Endometriosis is a condition in which the endometrium, the inner lining of the uterus, grows outside of the uterus into surrounding tissues and causes symptoms such as pelvic pain and infertility. Around 10% of women may be affected by endometriosis. Elagolix significantly decreases symptoms of dysmenorrhea (menstrual pelvic pain), non-menstrual pelvic pain, and dyspareunia (pain during sexual intercourse) in women with endometriosis. The medication is used at a lower dosage of 150 mg once per day or at a higher dosage of 200 mg twice per day, depending on the severity of symptoms.The effectiveness of elagolix in the treatment of symptoms of endometriosis was demonstrated in the 6-month Elaris Endometriosis I and II (EM-I and EM-II) phase III clinical trials.