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Meprobamate  – is marketed under the brand names Miltown, Equanil  and Meprospan.  It is also a component of the combination drug Equagesic (discontinued in the UK in 2002) acting as a muscle relaxant.  At one time it was widely ‘abused’ because it both reduces anxiety and pain – it is a very general relaxant.  It has largely been replaced by the benzodiazepines.  At the time it was being used in 1955, a study of 101 patients at the Mississippi State Hospital in Whitfield, Mississippi, found meprobamate to be useful in the alleviation of "mental symptoms."

• 3% percent of the patients made a complete recovery
• 29% were greatly improved
• and 50% were somewhat better
• 18% realized little change.

Self-destructive patients became cooperative and calmer, and experienced a resumption of logical thinking.   Meprobamate was also found to help in the treatment of alcoholics. 

By 1957, over 36 million prescriptions had been filled for meprobamate in the US alone, a billion pills had been manufactured, and it accounted for fully a third of all prescriptions written.  In April 1965 meprobamate was removed from the list of tranquilizers when experts ruled that the drug was a sedative instead. By 1970 it was listed as a controlled substance after it was discovered to cause physical and psychological dependence. Meprobamate is now classified as a Schedule IV drug (US) under the Convention on Psychotropic Substances.

Meprobamate's mechanism of action is not completely known. It has been shown in animal studies to have effects at multiple sites in the central nervous system, including the thalamus and limbic system. Meprobamate:

• binds to GABAA receptors which interrupts neuronal communication in the reticular formation and spinal cord, causing sedation and altered perception of pain.
• It is also a potent adenosine reuptake inhibitor (AdoRI).

Side effects include: drowsiness, sluggishness, unresponsiveness, or coma; loss of muscle control; severe impairment or cessation of breathing; or shock. Death has been reported with ingestion of as little as 12g of meprobamate and survival with as much as 40g.

On Jun, 26, 2015: 1,508 people reported to have side effects when taking Meprobamate. Among them, 10 people (0.66%) have Hallucination.

On Jun, 8, 2015: 1,508 people reported to have side effects when taking Meprobamate. Among them, 53 people (3.51%) have Death.