Miltown drug creator Berger dead at 94

NEW YORK, March 22 (UPI) -- Dr. Frank M. Berger, whose work with the tranquilizer Miltown helped revolutionize the medication industry, has died in New York at the age of 94.

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.