Eli Lilly and Company September 18, 1970, rock guitarist legend Jimi Hendrix died from a secobarbital overdose. On June 22, 1969, secobarbital overdose was the cause of death of actress Judy Garland. The drug was a central part of the plot of the hugely popular novel "Valley of the Dolls" (1966) by Jacqueline Susann in which three highly successful Hollywood women each fall victim, in various ways, to the drug. The novel was later released as a film by the same name. Eli Lilly has developed the vaccine preservative thiomersal (also called merthiolate and thimerosal). Thiomersal is effective by causing susceptible bacteria to autolyze.
Jacqueline Susann loathed the film version of "Valley", believed this adaptation was even worse. Susann's third novel, "Once Is Not Enough", was published by Morrow on March 20, 1973. "Once" is the story of January Wayne, daughter of a famous film and stage producer, who is hospitalized in Switzerland for three years. When she returns home to New York City, she finds that the world is far different from the one she had left. January contends with the social upheavals of the late 1960s and early 1970s in a graphic, driving story. Susann was candid about the theme of the book, stating