Cheap, Generic and Unpatentable DMSO: A Threat to Big Pharma Profits

DMSO (dimethyl sulfoxide) is a versatile, low-cost solvent with remarkable medicinal properties, including pain relief, anti-inflammatory effects and drug delivery. Despite over 11,000 studies supporting its benefits, it remains largely sidelined in mainstream medicine due to its unpatentable, generic nature.
Discovered in 1866, DMSO can penetrate skin, muscle and bone, delivering drugs systemically. Beyond transport, it reduces swelling, softens scar tissue, protects against radiation and may enhance cell repair. It has shown efficacy in conditions like arthritis, scleroderma and nerve pain.
In the 1960s, Dr. Stanley W. Jacob discovered DMSO’s medical potential after noticing its rapid absorption through skin. His clinical trials demonstrated dramatic improvements in burns, arthritis and other ailments, but his research faced suppression from pharmaceutical interests and regulatory hurdles.
Despite widespread patient success, the FDA imposed stringent testing requirements, effectively blocking DMSO’s approval for most uses. Public demand surged as patients and veterinarians used it off-label, but it remains FDA-approved only for interstitial cystitis (as Rimso-50).
DMSO’s story highlights systemic barriers in medicine—where patentability and profit often outweigh efficacy. Its broad therapeutic potential remains underutilized, illustrating how non-patentable treatments struggle for recognition despite scientific merit.

(Natural News)—In a world where billion-dollar patents shape modern medicine, one humble chemical may be the most powerful – and most persecuted – therapeutic agent you’ve never heard of: Dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO).

Discovered in 1866 and reborn in the 1960s as a medical marvel, dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) showed extraordinary potential to relieve pain, reduce inflammation and carry other drugs directly through the skin. Its safety profile was impressive, its uses wide-ranging, and its only real flaw was this: DMSO was cheap, generic and unpatentable.

That made it a “threat” to Big Pharma profits – and set off a decades-long struggle that pitted a handful of visionary scientists against a skeptical and profit-driven medical establishment. As the late science journalist Pat McGrady, Sr. revealed in his explosive 1973 book “The Persecuted Drug: The Story of DMSO,” it was about who gets to decide what counts as medicine.

A solvent with healing power

DMSO didn’t begin in a pharmacy – it came from a pulp and paper mill. A colorless liquid with a garlic-like odor, its molecular structure gives it a rare ability. It can pass through skin, muscle and even bone, carrying other substances into the bloodstream.

But DMSO turned out to be much more than a delivery vehicle. Researchers discovered it reduced swelling, eased pain, softened scar tissue, preserved organs, protected against radiation damage and improved circulation. It could transport insulin, antibiotics and anti-inflammatory drugs into deep tissues – without the need for injections.

At higher doses, it could destroy proteins. In low doses, it activated enzymes that regulate vital functions in the body. Some researchers believed DMSO could strengthen cell membranes and trigger healing in cases where conventional treatments failed.

DMSO’s discovery and healing potential

The story begins in 1866 in Kazan, Russia, with Dr. Alexander M. Zaytsev, who first synthesized DMSO. This colorless, slightly viscous liquid with a faint sulfurous odor was found to have an extraordinary ability to dissolve a wide range of substances – both water-loving (hydrophilic), such as salts, some proteins and sugars, and fat-loving (lipophilic), such as lipids (fats), oils and certain drugs. Saytzeff noted its unique properties but DMSO remained largely “forgotten” for nearly a century.

The modern medical story of DMSO began in 1961, when Dr. Stanley W. Jacob, a surgeon at the University of Oregon, met Robert J. Herschler, a chemist working with tree extracts. Herschler casually mentioned that DMSO could carry ink through bark.

Intrigued, Jacob applied a few drops to his own skin – and within minutes, he could taste it in his mouth. That meant DMSO had traveled through his skin, into his bloodstream through and up to his mouth – an almost unheard of feat for a compound. From that moment, Jacob was hooked – not on the chemical but on its potential.

He began testing DMSO on burns, sprains, pain syndromes and other disorders. A lab assistant with a chemical burn felt relief in minutes. An arthritic thumb regained mobility and movement. A young girl with crippling juvenile arthritis walked again after three years. Sinus sufferers reported drainage and relief from just a few drops. Athletes, accident victims and soldiers all showed faster healing, less inflammation and deeper relief.

DMSO showed promise in patients with hard-to-treat conditions, including:

Dupuytren’s contracture (a hand condition where fingers curl inward due to thickened tissue)
Peyronie’s disease (curved or painful erections caused by penile scar tissue)
Rheumatoid arthritis and scleroderma (autoimmune conditions causing joint and tissue damage)
Gout, neuralgia, sinusitis and varicose ulcers

In multiple cases, pain relief was immediate and consistent, raising eyebrows and sparking hopes, even among skeptics.

Overwhelming positive results

By 1964, more than 4,000 patients in the U.S. and Europe had been treated with DMSO in clinical or research settings – with overwhelming positive results. Pain eased, inflammation dropped, stiffness melted away and wounds healed faster.

But then came the media. The New York Times, Newsweek and U.S. News & World Report all ran glowing features. Suddenly, DMSO was a household name. That’s when the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and pharmaceutical companies stepped in – not with support but with suspicion.

Still shaken and reeling by the thalidomide tragedy that caused birth defects in Europe, the FDA clamped down hard on any new drug with systemic effects, especially one getting so much buzz and attention.

DMSO wasn’t new. It wasn’t patented. It cost about 35 cents a pint. It could not be monetized the way brand-name drugs could.

The FDA tightened regulations and demanded extensive, expensive toxicity testing, beyond the reach of most academic labs. Companies like Merck and Syntex, once interested, dropped out. The FDA-required studies would cost over $10 million, effectively pricing out everyone but the biggest, wealthiest players.

Jacob, meanwhile, became a target. His research grants vanished. He was labeled a “quack,” barred from surgical societies and denied publication. When a journal finally accepted one of his articles, it ran with an unprecedented editorial apology.

Still, Jacob never gave up. But the system made progress nearly impossible

The smell of healing

Another barrier? The smell. Once absorbed, DMSO gave users a garlicky or oyster-like odor (on the breath and body). Athletes joked about it. Coaches complained. But patients? They didn’t care.

Backed by tens of thousands of case studies, DMSO demonstrated one of the broadest therapeutic profiles ever seen. Pain relief typically kicks in within 30 to 60 minutes and could last for hours. In trials and even real-world use, DMSO helped treat:

Acute injuries – back and neck pain, burns, sprains and strains
Chronic inflammation – osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, scleroderma
Fibrotic disorders – Dupuytren’s contracture, Peyronie’s disease
Nerve pain – herpes zoster, trigeminal neuralgia (nerve disorder causing severe, electric shock-like facial pain)
Sinus infections – through nasal application
Skin conditions – acne, psoriasis
Surgical recovery – abdominal and orthopedic surgery
Vascular issues – ischemic ulcers, thrombophlebitis, varicose veins

While the FDA cracked down, the public rallied and support surged. Patients mailed jars of DMSO across state lines. Veterinarians used it on horses. Farmers injected it to apple trees. A seven-year old boy, dying from intestinal failure, was kept alive temporarily by dermal feeding – applying DMSO mixed with nutrients directly to his skin. Blood tests confirmed it worked.

The media caught on. Newspapers and TV shows covered the controversy – with some hailing DMSO as the next penicillin. Others labeled it snake oil but one thing is clear: people wanted access.

Eventually, in 1978, the FDA approved DMSO (in the form of Rimso-50) only for treating interstitial cystitis, a painful bladder condition. But its wider uses remain blocked.

Science versus system: A lesson in medical history

So why, despite decades of promising data, has DMSO never been fully embraced? As McGrady points out, it comes down to the collision between science, politics and profit. Drug approval isn’t just about scientific evidence – it is about patents, investors and protecting existing markets. And DMSO broke every rule: It was old, cheap, off-patent and threatened entire drug classes.

Scientists like Jacob weren’t against the system – they were simple for the science. They didn’t claim DMSO was a cure-all. They just wanted it studied properly. Instead, it was shelved – not for safety concerns but because it could not be controlled.

Today, DMSO, sold as Rimso-50, remains FDA-approved only for interstitial cystitis. But it’s widely used in veterinary care, alternative medicine and international clinics, with a loyal community of doctors and patients who have witnessed its power firsthand.

DMSO’s story is about more than a compound. It’s about how we decide what counts as “real” medicine – and what happens when healing collides with the bottom line. This natural molecule reminds us that the best solutions aren’t the most profitable – and that sometimes, the next medical breakthrough might just be hiding in plain sight.

Watch an April 15, episode of Brighteon Broadcast News as Health Ranger Mike Adams talks about the astonishing true story of “forbidden cures” like DMSO, curative dyes and phycocyanins.

This video is from the Health Ranger Report channel on Brighteon.com.

Bypass Big Tech Censors

Two Storms, One Harvest

Every food crisis in living memory has been a one-shock event. The 2008 price spike was a commodity bubble. The 2020 shortages were a logistics failure. The 2022 grain scare was a war on one exporter’s ports. Each time, the system bent, adjusted, and recovered, and each time the experts assured us afterward that global markets are simply too big and too diversified to fail.

What nobody in Washington seems eager to discuss is that 2026 is shaping up to be something the modern food system has never actually faced. Two independent shocks, one climatic and one geopolitical, are converging on the same harvest cycle at the same time. Not sequentially. Simultaneously.

Start with the weather. The Pacific Ocean is currently building toward what forecasters now openly call a record event. NOAA’s Climate Prediction Center puts the odds of at least a strong El Niño near 88 percent, with roughly two in three odds it reaches “very strong” status, the tier reserved for perhaps three or four events in the entire satellite era. Every major global model now projects a median peak in Super El Niño territory, and most of them project it exceeding the 2015-16 event, which until now held the modern record. Sea surface anomalies were already brushing the super threshold in mid-July, months before these events normally peak. The atmosphere has already shifted into El Niño mode, and the event is forecast to crest in late fall and early winter.

This is not about “climate change.” It’s about the standard cycles of weather, and the cycle we’re currently in is one that has likely devastated societies in the past. We’re better prepared as a society today, but not all Americans are equally prepared.

Serious households have started doing the quiet math on their own. Grocery bills tell part of the story, and the forecast maps tell the rest, which is why long-term food storage has moved from fringe hobby to mainstream line item in the family budget, with established suppliers like Heaven’s Harvest seeing demand from people who five years ago would have rolled their eyes at the idea. That instinct is not paranoia. It is pattern recognition, and the pattern is worth walking through carefully.

Editor’s Note: Heaven’s Harvest IS a sponsor, but the warnings of this article are real and would be written even if we didn’t have a survival food sponsor. With that said, those who take advantage of what they offer can use promo code “Patriot” for 15% off.

The Fertilizer Clock Is Already Running

While the Pacific warms, the second shock has been unfolding in the Strait of Hormuz. The conflict with Iran turned the world’s most important energy chokepoint into a contested waterway, and the consequences reach far beyond the gas pump. Roughly a third of global fertilizer trade moves through Hormuz, and the disruption sent urea prices up 86 percent year over year by March, with a 53 percent jump in a single month.

The World Bank projects energy prices rising about 24 percent in 2026 and fertilizer about 31 percent. By its own accounting, fertilizer prices ran 35 percent higher in the first five months of this year than the same period last year.

Here is the mechanism the nightly news will not explain. Fertilizer is not a grocery item. It is a time-delayed input. The nitrogen a farmer in Iowa or Punjab could not afford to apply this spring does not show up as a problem this spring. It shows up as a thinner harvest six to twelve months later.

The World Bank’s own food security brief concedes that the effects of reduced applications earlier this season “are likely to become visible only later in harvest outcomes.” Translate that from institutional language into plain English and it means this. The damage is already done, it is already in the ground, and we are simply waiting for it to arrive on the shelf.

Now check the calendar. Six to twelve months from the spring planting season lands us squarely in late 2026 and early 2027. Which is precisely when the strongest El Niño in the instrumental record is forecast to peak, bringing its signature droughts to Southeast Asia, Australia, southern Africa, northern Brazil, and South Asia, the very regions that grow the world’s rice, sugar, and oilseeds.

The World Bank warns openly that a strong El Niño “could disrupt multiple crop belts simultaneously” on top of the conflict-driven input costs. Their baseline projection assumes the Middle East disruptions ease by autumn. What in the last two years of Middle East history suggests that assumption is safe?

The System Has No Slack Left

The comfortable answer is that global markets always adjust. But adjustment requires slack, and the slack is gone. Global cereal production is expected to decline from last year’s records even before El Niño does its work. The UN World Food Programme, hardly a den of right-wing preppers, is calling this the most significant disruption to its supply chains since Covid and the invasion of Ukraine, and its supply chain director put the stakes bluntly.

Today’s supply chain challenges are tomorrow’s hunger crisis.

There is also a political dimension that markets cannot price. When food gets scarce, governments do not behave like economists. They behave like politicians. Export bans, hoarding mandates, and panic buying at the national level turned the modest rice shortfall of 2008 into a global crisis, and analysts are already warning that import-dependent nations are the first dominoes.

The 2015-16 Super El Niño, a far weaker event than what is now forecast, threw tens of millions into food stress across Africa and Asia. This one is projected to be stronger, and it arrives with fertilizer already rationed by price and shipping lanes already contested by missiles.

What Joseph Knew

Scripture does not treat preparation for lean years as faithlessness. It treats it as wisdom delivered in advance to those willing to act on it.

Behold, there come seven years of great plenty throughout all the land of Egypt: And there shall arise after them seven years of famine; and all the plenty shall be forgotten in the land of Egypt.

Joseph did not respond to that warning with a hashtag or a committee. He stored grain during the years of abundance, and when the famine came, Egypt stood while its neighbors begged. The lesson is not that famine is certain. It is that the time to prepare is precisely when preparation still looks optional.

Nobody who filled a pantry in a year of plenty has ever regretted it, and nobody standing in an empty aisle has ever been glad he waited for certainty.

None of this calls for panic, and panic is the enemy of sound judgment anyway. It calls for the same unglamorous prudence our grandparents considered ordinary. Keep some cash margin, know your local growers, and put real food in deep storage while it is cheap and available, because the entire arc of this story is that cheap and available is a closing window.

Families looking for a straightforward place to start can visit Heaven’s Harvest and use promo code Patriot for 15 percent off long-term storable food. The forecasts may yet soften, the strait may yet reopen, and we should pray they do. But hope is a fine thing to hold and a foolish thing to eat.