Every year the American public spent between $75 million and $100 million on medical frauds, many mail-ordered by women. Many of these nostrums were aimed at children and sold as teething "sirups," sweet powders, cough killers, croup remedies, "children's comforts," and "babies' friends." They depended for their effectiveness on alcohol, opium, morphine, and/or chloroform. Used to excess on a fussy child, they killed outright; even in moderation they could gradually become addictive. The United States government investigated seven of these widely advertised drugs but could not legaily prevent their sale. All it could do was make the manufacturers take the word "harmless" from the labels and tell the public about the quantity of opiates contained in these "baby killers." The manufacturers responded by substituting for the familiar morphine and chloroform equally dangerous drugs such as codeine and heroin that were less well...