In its golden age of 1978, Valium was the most commonly used prescription drug for tension and anxiety.
Valium was discovered in 1963 by Leo H. Sternbach (1908-2005), a Polish chemist working for Hoffman-La Roche in the USA. Since barbiturates can cause addiction and intoxication in overdose, Sternbach wanted to produce a better sedative.
Leo Sternbach (May 7, 1908 – September 28, 2005) was a Polish American chemist who is credited with first synthesizing benzodiazepines, the main class of tranquilizers.
Sternbach began working again on compounds he had stopped working on twenty years ago, and discovered that Ro-5-0690, one of these compounds, had hypnotic and sedative effects in mice. Hoffman-La-Roche named this drug Librium, the first of the new benzodiazepine class of drugs. Benzodiazepines work by reacting to the reticular activating system (RAS) in the brain, which controls mental activity. In 1963, Sternbach synthesized a simplified version of the Librium molecule. Five to ten times more potent than its predecessor, this drug was called Valium and was used to treat insomnia, panic, and phobias.
Fritz Hoffmann-La Roche, later Fritz Hoffmann-von der Mühll (1868 – 1920), was a Swiss businessman who founded the pharmaceutical company F. Hoffmann-LaRoche & Co.
Valium has also been the subject of a Rolling Stones song. The song "Mother's Little Helper" is about a woman trying to cope with a family whose demands never end. Barbara Gordon published a memoir called "I'm Dancing as Fast as I Can" in 1979. This book led to an awareness of the risk of physical dependence in regular users and the symptoms of addiction seen when Valium is discontinued abruptly. For this reason, Valium is currently only prescribed for use for two weeks or less.