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[3] [4] It was introduced as a sedative and medication for morning sickness without having been tested on pregnant women. [5] While initially deemed to be safe in pregnancy, concerns regarding birth defects were noted in 1961, and the medication was removed from the market in Europe that year. [3] [6]
Thalidomide is a known human teratogen and carries an extremely high risk of severe, life-threatening birth defects if administered or taken during pregnancy. [6] It causes skeletal deformities such as amelia (absence of legs and/or arms), absence of bones, and phocomelia (malformation of the limbs).
DES gained notoriety when it was shown to cause a rare vaginal tumor in girls and young women who had been exposed to this drug in utero.In 1971, the New England Journal of Medicine published a report showing that seven of eight girls and young women (ages 14 to 22) who had been diagnosed with vaginal clear cell adenocarcinoma had been exposed prenatally to DES. [5]
McBride published a letter in The Lancet, in December 1961, noting a large number of birth defects in children of patients who were prescribed thalidomide, [9] after a midwife named Sister Pat Sparrow first suspected the drug was causing birth defects in the babies of patients under his care at Crown Street Women's Hospital in Sydney. [10]
Afterwards it was used against nausea and to alleviate morning sickness in pregnant women. Thalidomide became an over-the-counter drug in Germany around 1960, i.e. it could be bought without a prescription. Shortly after the drug was sold, in Germany between 5,000 and 7,000 infants were born with phocomelia. Only 40% of these children survived. [8]
Heather Vahdat, the Male Contraceptive Initiative’s executive director, said interest in male birth control has been on the rise since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022. Wade in 2022.
The S enantiomer causes birth defects, while the R enantiomer is effective against morning sickness. Thalidomide: Thalidomide is racemic. One enantiomer is effective against morning sickness, whereas the other is teratogenic. However, the enantiomers are converted into each other in vivo. [18]
Now, some women taking those medications are reporting getting unexpectedly pregnant — despite fertility issues or, in some cases, while on birth control pills. Deb Oliviara, a 32-year-old ...