Laboratories. It was first used in human beings on March 8, 1934, by Dr. Ralph M. Waters in an investigation of its properties, which were short-term anesthesia and surprisingly little analgesia. Three months later, Dr. John S. Lundy started a clinical trial of thiopental at the Mayo Clinic at the request of Abbott. Abbott continued to make the drug until 2004, when it spun off its hospital-products division as Hospira. Thiopental is famously associated with a number of anesthetic deaths in victims of the attack on Pearl Harbor. These deaths, relatively soon after the drug's introduction, were said to be due to excessive doses given to shocked trauma patients. However, recent evidence available through freedom of information legislation was reviewed in the British Journal of Anaesthesia, which has suggested that this story was grossly exaggerated. Of the 344 wounded that were admitted to the Tripler Army Hospital, only 13 did not survive, and it is unlikely that thiopentone overdose was responsible for more than a few of these. See also Pentobarbital References External links PubChem Substance Summary: Thiopental Vassallo, Susi, M.D. "Thiopental in Lethal Injection" (Archive). Fordham Urban Law Journal. Vol. 35, issue 4. June 18, 2008. pp. 957–968. AbbVie brands AMPA receptor antagonists GABAA receptor positive allosteric modulators General anesthetics Glycine receptor agonists Hypnotics Kainate receptor antagonists Lethal injection components Nicotinic antagonists Organic sodium salts Pfizer brands Sedatives Thiobarbiturates World Health Organization essential medicines