"In the late nineteenth century, Dr. Youngâs Ideal Rectal Dilators were marketed in the United States as medical devices for a long list of everyday problems. Ads and product claims connected them to constipation, insomnia, acne, bad breath, nervousness, and even headaches. By 1893, medical critics were already questioning the claims, but the devices still appeared in advertising into the early twentieth century. A 1905 promotion described them as a treatment doctors could recommend for stubborn cases of chronic constipation. The story finally reached federal authorities in 1940, when the product was seized and condemned as misbranded, with officials saying the suggested use could be dangerous."