In the late eighties, the American-based multi-national pharmaceutical company Wyeth, promoted its new tranquiliser, Ativan, as being non-addictive and virtually side effect free. This was far from the truth – and one Cook Report viewer offered to help the programme prove it. Ada Niesyty had been prescribed the drug for mild depression following the death of her husband, but had quickly become addicted and had suffered such frightening and debilitating side-effects that she decided to wean herself off it. However, even her GP found it hard to believe how much more debilitating were the results of attempting to do just that.