'Houston, We Have a Study': History-making African Research Relies on a Maverick Texas Pharmaceutical Compounder

The Republic of Zambia is a landlocked country in South-Central Africa. According to the United Nations World Population Prospects 2020, a full 60.5% of Zambia's 18.3 million inhabitants live below the international poverty line. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, meanwhile, rank malaria seventh among the top 10 causes of death. This article presents an American neurologist's work from a teaching hospital in Zambia to acquire versions of acetaminophen and ibuprofen liquids, and matching placebos for both, in a double-blind study aimed at malaria's infamous mile-high fevers. Success came with the essential help of a compounding pharmacist in Houston, Texas.