Jack Dreyfus, founder of the Dreyfus Fund, became a major proponent of phenytoin as a means to control nervousness and depression when he received a prescription for Dilantin in 1966.
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In the 2013 science fiction film Elysium, the protagonist (played by Matt Damon) takes Miporol, a fictional brand name for diphenylhydantoin, after having been exposed to a lethal dose of radiation.
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In 1938, outside scientists including H. Houston Merritt and Tracy Putnam discovered phenytoin's usefulness for controlling seizures, without the sedative effects associated with phenobarbital.
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Dreyfus' experience with phenytoin is outlined in his book, A Remarkable Medicine Has Been Overlooked.