In the early 1900s, some cough syrups contained ingredients that would shock people today.
A product known as “One Night Cough Syrup” listed substances such as morphine, cannabis indica, chloroform, and alcohol directly on its label. At the time, many medicines were sold as patent medicines, and there were very few regulations controlling what companies could include in their products.
These medicines were widely available in pharmacies across the United States and promised to cure coughs, pain, and insomnia. While some ingredients could suppress coughing and make people sleepy, they also carried serious risks such as addiction and dangerous side effects.
Public concern over unsafe medicines eventually led to the Pure Food and Drug Act of 1906, one of the first laws in the United States that required companies to properly label ingredients in food and drugs.
In this video you will learn:
The strange ingredients in early cough syrup
The history of patent medicines
How dangerous remedies helped create modern drug regulations
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