I picked up a vintage old medicine bottle in a pile of stuff at an estate auction nearby and it intrigued me enough to do some research. It originates before 1904 and probably in the late 1800's. "Dr. D. Fahrney & Son Hagerstown Md. Teething Syrup for Babes". Did it work? You betcha. The stuff contained about 9% alcohol and substantial amounts of chloroform and morphine. I bet it quieted some babes for good. When Teddy Roosevelt's food and drug legislation cracked down on the narcotic drug stuff back then it seems that Dr Fahrney was fined about $200 by the federal government.
Today we have the same stuff marketed to a wider audience. The FDA requires that the on the air ads for prescription drugs list the "side effects" so we get glitzy ads about miracle cures for (minor) pain and unsightly skin psoriasis problems and a quick verbal FDA mandated warning about "fatal events". Say what? We only get one fatal event. Prescription drugs that address nerve damage attributed to diabetes also produce "thoughts of suicide" (murder?) and even stop smoking remedies are alleged to produce "thoughts of suicide (murder)> I add the parenthesis about murder simply because the drug czars ignore the connection between doing away with your own life to taking someone down with you.
Today we have the same stuff marketed to a wider audience. The FDA requires that the on the air ads for prescription drugs list the "side effects" so we get glitzy ads about miracle cures for (minor) pain and unsightly skin psoriasis problems and a quick verbal FDA mandated warning about "fatal events". Say what? We only get one fatal event. Prescription drugs that address nerve damage attributed to diabetes also produce "thoughts of suicide" (murder?) and even stop smoking remedies are alleged to produce "thoughts of suicide (murder)> I add the parenthesis about murder simply because the drug czars ignore the connection between doing away with your own life to taking someone down with you.