I TREATED my first patient with amebic dysentery in Panama in 1937. The drug used was emetine hydrochloride. Since that time, I have spent most of my life working in the field of tropical medicine and have treated hundreds of patients with amebiasis, intestinal and hepatic. Today, after this clinical experience that can be matched by few, I no longer know how to treat the infection. Drugs that, when introduced, cured 100% of infections now are deemed almost worthless. Drugs that seemed to be effective have been discarded as being too dangerous. Drugs that currently appear to be useful are being withdrawn from the market because pharmaceutical houses no longer can make a profit, cannot or will not meet Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regulations, or are fearful of suits. One must run through the roster to appreciate that the word "agony" is justified. Rogers introduced ipecac, which later became