Lasse Hessel

Lasse Leif Hessel (9 September 1940 – 25 April 2019), also known as "the family doctor", was a Danish inventor, author, and M.D. noted for such inventions as the Femidom and the Femi-X pill, and an internationally acknowledged expert on nutrition and dietary fibre.

Biography He studied medicine at the University of Copenhagen, and in the early 1970s began to collect research data on public health and nutrition for the Danish government.

This led to writing a medical column for the daily newspaper Politiken and serving as nutrition advisor for the Danish bread manufacturer Schulstad, an assignment which resulted in bread with more fiber.

He also produced a government-sponsored, educational TV series, Sund og slank (healthy and slim) in 1974, accompanied by a book of the same name, which sold 750.000 copies, his first huge publishing success. Later followed many more books, including several best-sellers, and a health magazine, Lev vel (live well) (1977).

In 1976, Hessel developed a trimness-pill called Fiber Trim, followed ten years later by his diet-pill Gastrolette, later marketed as Minus Calories and Zotrim.

In 1975, Hessel started The Family Doctor, a newspaper cartoon inspired by his experiences as a GP. The series was syndicated by The New York Times to newspapers and magazines in 42 countries. It reached a daily readership in excess of 320 million, ran for 14 years and made Lasse Hessel internationally famous.

Hessel's best-known invention is probably the Femidom, also called the female condom. He developed it after hearing about the lack of options available for women trying to avoid HIV/AIDS. It launched in Europe in 1990 and was approved by the FDA for sale in the United States in 1993. Today, its production is sponsored by World Health Organization and the United Nations. In 2000, the success of the Femidom was recognized with the Queen's Awards for Enterprise in the international trade category.