Heroin was initially marketed as a non-addictive version of morphine. It was challenged by experts on the spot. But Bayer promoted it in ads as a remedy against

Heroin was initially marketed as a non-addictive version of morphine. It was challenged by experts on the spot. But Bayer promoted it in ads as a remedy against cough and cold for children regardless. [1] In some sense they weren't first to come up with the idea - TIL ancient Egyptians used opium to stop children crying. [2] Anyway, IMO the real wtf is drug companies being allowed to advertise prescription drugs in the US. A few lines into the article I eventually assumed Vicodin was an opioid-based painkiller; whereas I'd gather many a NYT reader would be familiar with the name. I find it unfortunate that the author doesn't connect the dots and spell out the conditioning of consumers through pharmaceutical ads. [1]: http://www.cbgnetwork.org/4148.html http://www.cbgnetwork.org/4148.html [2]: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/jan/28/opioids-the-search-for-the-perfect-painkiller-tens-of-thousands-us-deaths-g-protein-coupled-receptor https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/jan/28/opioids-the-...