The Therapeutic Nightmare: The Battle Over the World’s Most Controversial Tranquillizer

Presents an account of how the psychotropic drug Halcion came onto the market in the UK and the US and how it was subsequently withdrawn in the UK after having serious effects on many patients - such as amnesia, suicidal behaviour and psychosis. The text is a study in the issues and difficulties of controlling the safety of new drugs, the interests at stake, the science involved and the problems confronted both by regulators and consumers.