Inventor of Valium, Once the Most Often Prescribed Drug, Dies

[Burma Jones]

Died at 97!! - I bet he knew how to handle stress....

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/09/30/AR2005093001963.html

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Leo Sternbach, 97, who created Valium, the nation's most-prescribed drug during the 1970s, until critics claimed it was overused and newer drugs replaced it, died Sept. 28 at his home in Chapel Hill, N.C.

Sternbach became a celebrated figure in research science for his creation of a group of chemicals that soothed anxious, irritated and agitated executives and housewives. Valium topped the list of most-common pharmaceuticals from 1969 to 1982, with nearly 2.3 billion pills passing into consumers' hands during its peak sales year of 1978.

Nicknamed "Mother's Little Helper" and "Executive Excedrin," Valium was a true cultural phenomenon. The Rolling Stones sang: "She goes running for the shelter of a mother's little helper, and it helps her on her way, gets her through her busy day." Novelist Jacqueline Susann called the pills "dolls" in her 1966 novel "Valley of the Dolls." In a 1979 memoir, "I'm Dancing as Fast as I Can," television producer-author Barbara Gordon said quitting Valium cold turkey landed her in an insane asylum.
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