The 1960s Medicine and Health: Chronology

1960:      An orally administered polio vaccine, developed by Albert Sabin, is introduced in the United States.

1960:     April A breast implant is constructed from silicone gel.

1960:     May Birth control pills are approved for widespread use in the United States.

1960:     December In order to practice in the United States, foreign-trained doctors are required to pass special tests.

1961:     April An epidemic of sexually transmitted diseases, such as syphilis and gonorrhea, is reported among American teenagers.

1961:     May Blood from a cadaver (dead body) is used to give a transfusion.

1962:      Radiation, chemotherapy, and steroids are used to fight leukemia.

1962:     June A severed arm is successfully reattached to a twelve-year-old boy.

1962:     June Various government proposals for offering America's elderly adequate health insurance are considered.

1962:     December The first human kidney transplant using a nonrelative as a donor is completed.

1963:      A measles vaccine is made available.

1963:      Valium, an antianxiety, anticonvulsant drug, is introduced.

1963:     May The first human liver transplant is performed.

1963:     June The first human lung transplant is performed.

1963:     June 8 The American Heart Association announces an antismoking campaign.

1964:      Approximately one million abortions are performed annually in the United States. Most are illegal.

1964:      A rubella (German measles) epidemic sweeps the country.

1964:     April The one-hundred-billionth Bayer aspirin tablet is produced.

1964:     June 24 The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) proclaims that, beginning in 1965, cigarette packaging must feature health warnings.

1965:      The female hormone estrogen is found to prevent osteoporosis (bone degeneration).

1965:      Soft contact lenses are invented.

1965:     March The New York Blood Center, a computerized blood bank, opens in New York City.

1965:     May A condition called "surfer's knee" is described as being a result of frequent kneeling on surfboards.

1966:     January 1 Tobacco companies must print the words "Caution: Cigarette smoking may be hazardous to your health" on cigarette packaging.

1966:     March An epidemic of thyroid disease in children is reported in St. George, Utah, located downwind from a Nevada nuclear test site.

1966:     March A stapling device that rapidly closes incisions during surgery is marketed.

1966:     July 1 The Medicare health insurance plan for Americans over sixty-five years old is instituted.

1967:      Authorities in Evanston, Illinois, report that, during a twenty-year period, fluoridated water has reduced residents' cavities by 58 percent.

1967:      Doctors at Chicago's Cook County Hospital hook up a cystoscope (which looks into the bladder) to a color television and videotape machine.

1967:      For the first year since records on the disease were initiated, no American dies of rabies.

1967:     May Colorado becomes the first state to liberalize abortion laws.

1967:     December Christiaan Barnard performs the first human-to-human heart transplant operation.

1968:      A meningitis vaccine is developed and tested on military recruits.

1968:     January The U.S. Public Health Service reports that malnutrition among America's poor is just as severe as in developing countries.

1968:     March A kidney-storage unit that can save donor kidneys awaiting transplant for up to three days becomes available.

1969:      Many hysterectomies, particularly in women under forty, are reported to be often unnecessary.

1969:      The Medical Information Telephone System (MIST), a consultation service for doctors, is started.

1969:      A new incubator for premature babies is developed.

1969:     April 4 Denton Cooley performs the first complete artificial heart transplant.

1969:     October 18 The Department of Health, Education, and Welfare bans cyclamates (artificial sweeteners), which cause cancer and birth defects.

1969:     November 20 Because of its health and environmental hazards, the Department of Agriculture announces plans to phase out use of the pesticide DDT (dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane).