Antimony potassium tartrate's potential as an emetic was known since the Middle Ages. The compound itself was considered toxic and therefore a different way to administer it was found. Cups made from pure antimony were used to store wine for 24 hours and then the resulting solution of antimony potassium tartrate in wine was consumed in small portions until the wanted emetic effect was reached. Today the compound is still used to induce vomiting in captured animals to study their diet.
TThe first treatment application against trypanosomiasis was tested in 1906, and the compound's use to treat other tropical diseases was researched. The treatment of leishmania with antimony potassium tartrate started in 1913. After the introduction of antimony containing complexes like sodium stibogluconate and meglumine antimoniate, the use of antimony potassium tartrate was phased out. However, the injection of antimony potassium tartrate had severe side effects such as Adams–Stokes syndrome and therefore alternative substances were under investigation. With the introduction and subsequent larger use of praziquantel in the 1970s, the use of antimony based treatments fell out of use.
The New England Journal of Medicine reported a case study of a patient whose wife secretly gave him a dose of a product called "tartaro emetico" which contained trivalent antimony potassium tartrate and is sold in Central America as an aversive treatment for alcohol abuse. The patient, who had been out drinking the night before, developed persistent vomiting shortly after being given orange juice with the drug. When admitted to the hospital, and later in the ICU, he experienced severe chest pains, cardiac abnormalities, renal and hepatic toxicity, and nearly died. The Journal reports that "Two years later, he [the patient] reports complete abstinence from alcohol."