Eskatrol was an amphetamine

Amphetamine

Amphetamine or amfetamine is a psychostimulant drug of the phenethylamine class which produces increased wakefulness and focus in association with decreased fatigue and appetite.Brand names of medications that contain, or metabolize into, amphetamine include Adderall, Dexedrine, Dextrostat,...

 weight loss

Weight loss

Weight loss, in the context of medicine, health or physical fitness, is a reduction of the total body mass, due to a mean loss of fluid, body fat or adipose tissue and/or lean mass, namely bone mineral deposits, muscle, tendon and other connective tissue...

 agent which was removed by the
Food and Drug Administration

Food and Drug Administration

The Food and Drug Administration is an agency of the United States Department of Health and Human Services, one of the United States federal executive departments...

 in 1981 after its manufacturer,
SmithKline & French

SmithKline & French

Smith, Kline & French was a pharmaceutical company, which is now part of GlaxoSmithKline.-History:In 1830, John K. Smith opened a drugstore in Philadelphia, and his younger brother, George, joined him in 1841 to form John K Smith & Co. In 1865, Mahlon Kline joined Smith and Shoemaker, as John K...

, was unable to prove the drug's effectiveness. At the time it was among the 200 most widely prescribed drugs in the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

. Another was Dexamyl

Dexamyl

Dexamyl is the brand name of a combination drug composed of dextroamphetamine and amobarbital .First introduced in the 1930s, Dexamyl was a rudimentary antidepressant medication...

 tablets. Eskatrol contained dextroamphetamine sulfate  and prochlorperazine

Prochlorperazine

Prochlorperazine is a dopamine receptor antagonist that belongs to the phenothiazine class of antipsychotic agents that are used for the antiemetic treatment of nausea and vertigo. It is also a highly-potent typical antipsychotic, 10-20x more potent than chlorpromazine...

.

In August 1970 the F.D.A. sought to limit the use of stimulants by calling for changes in labeling which decreased the number of allowable claims and intensified the warnings about possible hazards. F.D.A. Commissioner,
Charles C. Edwards, criticized the drug industry for not helping to prevent the abuse of amphetamines. Thomas M. Rauch, president of SmithKline & French laboratories, responded that his company had long promoted stricter drug abuse legislation and tighter controls
on production and distribution. SmithKline & French also made Dexedrine and Benzedrine

Benzedrine

Benzedrine is the trade name of the racemic mixture of amphetamine . It was marketed under this brandname in the USA by Smith, Kline & French in the form of inhalers, starting in 1928...

. The F.D.A. began to restrict amphetamine manufacturer claims to only three medical uses, two of them uncommon. The two rare conditions specified were narcolepsy

Narcolepsy

Narcolepsy is a chronic sleep disorder, or dyssomnia, characterized by excessive sleepiness and sleep attacks at inappropriate times, such as while at work. People with narcolepsy often experience disturbed nocturnal sleep and an abnormal daytime sleep pattern, which often is confused with insomnia...

and hyperactivity. The third permitted use was for suppressing appetite among persons who needed to lose weight. However, this would only be allowed for a total of a few weeks, and as a part of
treatment for obesity.