Bayer sold heroin as children's cough syrup. π . . . From 1898 to 1910, the German pharmaceutical giant marketed diacetylmorphine under the brand name 'Heroin' β pitched as a non-addictive alternative to morphine. Doctors dosed infants with it for coughs and colds. Bayer only pulled it after tens of thousands of patients turned up addicted.
Source
Scientific American, 2011, 'Heroin, Aspirin and the Business of Addiction' / BBC News, 2014, 'Heroin: From cough syrup to class A'
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