The first of the so-called "blockbuster" drugs, the tranquilizer Valium (diazepam), first available to the public in the early 1960s, was the top selling prescription drug during the 1970s. It was called a blockbuster because it was marketed and sold to a wide variety of people to help them control anxiety, nervousness, and tension. Over the next two decades, both the doctors who prescribed the drug and their patients who took it began to realize that Valium (diazepam) had several negative effects, and its popularity has decreased. However, Valium's fame as an aid to relaxation is still widespread. Most people will understand that the suggestion "Take a Valium!" means "Calm down!"

 

Valium is the brand name for a drug called diazepam, which is a tranquilizer (calming medication). Valium (diazepam) was invented in the late 1950s by a Swiss drug company called Hoffmann-La Roche, who began to market it in the early 1960s. It was the perfect drug for a society coping with rapid changes brought about by the civil rights movement, the women's liberation movement, and the sexual revolution, social movements that left many Americans feeling anxious. The new drug Valium (diazepam) seemed to be a kind of miracle cure for anxiety. Doctors prescribed it widely, for everyone from overworked executives to young housewives who were stressed by the many demands of their families. The 1966 novel by Jacqueline Susann (1918–1974), Valley of the Dolls, and the 1966 hit song "Mother's Little Helper" by the Rolling Stones reflect the effects of Valium pills on women during that time.

 

The popularity of brand-name Valium (diazepam) suffered somewhat in the mid-1980s, when Hoffmann-La Roche's patent on the drug expired. This allowed other companies to make their own less expensive brands of diazepam to compete with Valium.

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