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.
Valley of the Dolls publication of her third novel, Susann said, "They can keep calling it that ["roman à clef"]. It'll only make my books sell. I don't care." Susann insisted that she began each book with a theme: "Then I start asking, what kind of a personality? And because I have a good ear, I unconsciously pick up certain people." Susann dedicated the book to her poodle Josephine, and to her husband Irving Mansfield. The book was published by Bernard Geis Associates on February 10, 1966, and "took off like a Cape Canaveral space shot." Although "Publishers Weekly", in an advance review, called