Chloramphenicol and the neonate--1979 view.

In a therapeutic tragedy perhaps even more widespread than the thalidomide disaster, untold lives were lost between 1949 and 1958 through the administration of inappropriate doses of chloramphenicol to newborn infants. Sensitive assays of blood levels of chloramphenicol now available make it possible to employ this useful antibiotic avoiding its toxic effects. The author reviews accumulated knowledge about chloramphenicol in the newborn infant.