Modern Medicine and the Twentieth Century Decline in Mortality: Evidence on the Impact of Sulfa Drugs
研究1930年代磺胺类药物这一突破性医学创新对美国死亡率下降的贡献，发现其在1937-1943年间使孕产妇死亡率下降24%-36%、肺炎死亡率下降17%-32%、猩红热死亡率下降52%-65%，总体死亡率降低2%-3%，预期寿命增加0.4-0.7年，且对白人的益处大于黑人。
This paper studies the contribution of sulfa drugs, a groundbreaking medical innovation in the 1930s, to declines in US mortality. For several infectious diseases, sulfa drugs represented the first effective treatment. Using time-series and difference-in-differences methods, we find that sulfa drugs led to a 24 to 36 percent decline in maternal mortality, 17 to 32 percent decline in pneumonia mortality, and 52 to 65 percent decline in scarlet fever mortality between 1937 and 1943. Altogether, sulfa drugs reduced mortality by 2 to 3 percent and increased life expectancy by 0.4 to 0.7 years. We also find that sulfa drugs benefited whites more than blacks.