The Los Angeles Times said Saturday that while Berger's famed creation was later found to be potentially addictive, its introduction in 1955 helped initiate an industry focus on mood-altering medications.

In just one year after Miltown was released to the public, an estimated 5 percent of U.S. citizens were taking tranquilizers.

The drug was designated in 1965 as a sedative by experts and researchers found that it could become addictive in above-average doses.

These findings later led to Miltown being designated a controlled substance and it was placed on the Schedule IV of the Convention on Psychotropic Substances.

The Times said the former Wallace Laboratories research director, who died last Sunday of a heart attack, is survived by his wife, Alma, two sons, a stepson, two step-grandchildren and a sister.