The chemotherapy of tuberculosis has been much improved since early days in the 1940s and 1950s when patients had to take their drugs for two years or more, often with reactions or side-effects. Chemotherapy was so successful that all other treatments previously used – pneumothorax, thoracoplasty and other lung surgeries – were no longer necessary. By 1980 the drug regimen of rifampin, isoniazid and pyrazinamide, given for as little as six months, assured almost 100% cure, with generally no need for rest or sanatorium isolation.

This cartoon, drawn by a patient at the Saskatoon San in 1931, illustrates the philosophy of that time that resting and waiting in bed was the only way to "chase cure".