Nowadays?
Cocaine and heroin were wonder drugs in the 1800s, lobotomies and general drilling holes in skulls has been around for who knows how long ... leeches, electricity, radium, tobacco ... the number of snake oil treatments that have been sold to the public for centuries is nigh on innumerable.
The biggest problem with the medical industry is the weak willed, whiny, needy "patients" that pander to it.
Big government, same thing.
People with power can't just be expected to act responsibly they need to be held accountable.