Not many of you might be knowing that In the 19th and early 20th centuries, people suffering from any diseases and bodily discomforts used to approach their local pharmacy. Unaware about the substances that were often highly addictive, dangerous, and deadly. These substances are now tightly restricted. So here are the names of few drugs that were sold once in the pharmacies.
Laudanam (Opium)
The medieval physician Paracelsus prescribed opium throughout Europe as a pain reliever. And since he was also strong in marketing, he renamed the opium “laudanum” – “in health.” They treated them like aspirin, everything from a runny nose to diarrhea. Charles Dickens even resorted to it when it was poorly composed. They started talking about the insidiousness of opium only in the 18th century, and even then in connection with the fact. Several people were poisoned, taking it along with camphor.
Heroin
Young mothers in 1898 bought heroin from Bayer in packs for their children – as an excellent remedy for ARVI. It was soon endorsed even by the American Medical Association as a non-addictive substitute for morphine. Oh, how mistakenly approved! When alarming signals began to arrive, Bayer admitted its mistake and discontinued the drug in 1913. But for another 10 years, heroin pills, lozenges, and elixirs continued to be sold to everyone.
Camphor
In the middle of the 19th century, camphor was believed to help with hysteria, cholera, and gout. Then, however, doctors figured out that camphor is toxic. However, even today camphor is contained in various massage ointments and creams that soothe itching, on the packaging of which the inscription says: “Swallowed – immediately rinse.
Radithor
In the 1920s, it was added to tooth powder, soap, and even birth control. There was even an elixir of longevity called the Raditor. Steel mogul Eben Byers drank about 1,400 bottles of the drug over the year and died after surgery to remove his jaw when the bones in his body began to decay. Fortunately, because of it, the popularity of the drink was sharply shaken, and many lovers of radium managed to survive.
Lead
The ancient Romans used Lead with might and main, shoving it first into the paint for painting plates, then into water pipes, despite the numerous warnings of the Caesarean engineers. They even added lead acetate to the wine to make it sweeter.
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