Making Negroes White

Vitiligo, or "piebald skin," is a disease that can be badly disfiguring in Negroes. It is characterized by smooth, light-colored patches of skin from which the natural pigment has disappeared. When it attacks the face, vitiligo sometimes produces a mottled, owlish visage. Victims usually cover the splotches with makeup or, in desperation, resort to tattooing--which rarely helps. Georgetown University's Dr. Robert Stolar last week announced that he got dramatic results from treating vitiliginous Negroes with a drug called monobenzyl ether of hydroquinone (MBEHQ). The drug's effect; it turns Negro skin white.

Spread daily on the body in the form of an ointment, MBEHQ interferes with formation of the natural skin pigment. It works only on Negroes who already exhibit telltale light splotches of vitiligo therefore have a demonstrated tendency toward depigmentation. Dr. Stolar reported that he had successfully treated more than 300 vitiliginous patients, many of whom chose to use the ointment only on small areas of their skin. But 16 patients who decided to try MBEHO more extensively, Dr. Stolar said, have achieved almost total body depigmentation, which presumably will last as long as they continue using the drug.

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