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Modern Medicine and the 20th Century Decline in Mortality: Evidence on the Impact of Sulfa Drugs

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Author Info
Seema Jayachandran
Adriana Lleras-Muney
Kimberly V. Smith

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Abstract

This paper studies the contribution of sulfa drugs, a groundbreaking medical innovation in the 1930s, to declines in U.S. mortality. For several often-fatal infectious diseases, sulfa drugs represented the first effective treatment. Using time-series and difference-in-differences methods (with diseases unaffected by sulfa drugs as a comparison group), we find that sulfa drugs led to a 25 to 40 percent decline in maternal mortality, 17 to 36 percent decline in pneumonia mortality, and 52 to 67 percent decline in scarlet-fever mortality between 1937 and 1943. Altogether, they reduced mortality by 2 to 4 percent and increased life expectancy by 0.4 to 0.8 years. We also find that sulfa drugs benefited whites more than blacks.

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Paper provided by National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc in its series NBER Working Papers with number 15089.

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Date of creation: Jun 2009
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Handle: RePEc:nbr:nberwo:15089

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Find related papers by JEL classification:
I10 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - General
J11 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Demographic Trends and Forecasts
N32 - Economic History - - Labor and Consumers, Demography, Education, Income, and Wealth - - - U.S.; Canada: 1913-

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This page was last updated on 2009-11-7.

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