PROBENECID (BENEMID)

Abstract

PROBENECID (Benemid) * resulted from a prolonged research effort directed toward the discovery of a safe agent that, administered orally, would physiologically inhibit the renal tubular secretion of penicillin.¹Introduced into clinical medicine on July 22, 1949,²the use for which it was intended has increased steadily, and new indications for the drug have been disclosed. A conservative estimate indicates that 4,000,000 patient days (15,626 patient years) of therapy have been administered. Granting that the record of side-effects following the use of any therapeutic agent is not static, and that continuing use will bring to light an increasing number of side-effects and toxic manifestations, an appraisal from time to time seems appropriate. A preliminary assessment of the toxicity of probenecid was presented in 1951 on the basis of 701 patients,⁴⁹and it is now possible to report on 2,502 patients. The information reported here has been derived from