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Feet of a baby born to a mother who had taken thalidomide while pregnant. In the late 1950s and early 1960s, the use of thalidomide in 46 countries was prescribed to women who were pregnant or who subsequently became pregnant, and consequently resulted in the "biggest anthropogenic medical disaster ever," with more than 10,000 children born with a range of severe deformities, such as ...
In 1952, thalidomide was synthesised by Chemical Industry Basel, but was found "to have no effect on animals" and was discarded on that basis. [40] In 1957, it was acquired by Chemie Grünenthal in Germany. [40] The German company had been established as a soap maker after World War II ended, to address the urgent market need for antibiotics. [41]
TIL that Thalidomide, the drug responsible for thousands of birth defects across Europe in the 1950s/60s, was developed by a doctor who had previously worked for the Nazis, experimenting on ...
In 1964, Israeli physician Jacob Sheskin discovered the positive effect of thalidomide in the treatment of leprosy. Since the 1970s, Grünenthal has delivered thalidomide tablets to leprosy clinics to cure leprosy. The delivery takes place under strict conditions and by virtue of an agreement with the World Health Organization. [21]
Thalidomide was eventually found to cause miscarriages, severe birth defects in babies whose mothers had taken the medication while pregnant, and severe nerve damage. [1] [failed verification] [2] In January 1968, Mückter was put on trial along with other Grünenthal employees. The trial ended abruptly in April 1970 with a settlement ...
Opioids are among the world's oldest known drugs. [13] [14] Use of the opium poppy for medical, recreational, and religious purposes can be traced to the 4th century BCE, when Hippocrates wrote about it for its analgesic properties, stating, "Divinum opus est sedare dolores." ("Divine work is the easing of pain") [15]
Widukind Lenz (4 February 1919, Eichenau, Bavaria – 25 February 1995) was a distinguished German pediatrician, medical geneticist and dysmorphologist who was among the first to recognize the thalidomide syndrome in 1961 and alert the world to the dangers of limb and other malformations due to the mother's exposure to this drug during pregnancy.
Wonder Drug: The Secret History of Thalidomide in America and Its Hidden Victims is a nonfiction book authored by Jennifer Vanderbes and published by Random House in 2023. It tells the story of how Frances Oldham Kelsey of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) found flaws in thalidomide research.