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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 ...
Common side effects include sleepiness, rash, and dizziness. [6] Severe side effects include tumor lysis syndrome, blood clots, and peripheral neuropathy. [8] 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]
Adverse effects by frequency: [1] [2] Note that teratogenicity is not discussed here as it is not considered a side effect. For information regarding birth defects, see thalidomide .
But it is known have developmental effects appear in fetuses and children even at very small doses. It has been shown to cause abnormal reflexes in neonates, poorer mental development in 2 and 3 year olds, poorer verbal IQ in 3 + 1 ⁄ 2 and 5 year old and pervasive developmental disorder in 2, 3 and 3 + 1 ⁄ 2 year olds. [18]
Thalidomide was released onto the market in 1958 in West Germany under the name Contergan. Primarily prescribed as a sedative or hypnotic, thalidomide also claimed to cure "anxiety, insomnia, gastritis, and tension". [8] Afterwards it was used against nausea and to alleviate morning sickness in pregnant women.
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]
Thalidomide: 1961 Germany Withdrawn because of risk of teratogenicity; [62] returned to market for use in leprosy and multiple myeloma under FDA orphan drug rules Thenalidine: 1963 Canada, UK, US Neutropenia [3] [63] Thiobutabarbitone: 1993 Germany Kidney injury. [3] Thioridazine (Melleril) 2005 Germany, UK
As director of the Krefeld Children's Hospital, Wiedemann was one of the first to recognise the fatal side effects of thalidomide. While initially considered safe, thalidomide was responsible for teratogenic deformities in children born after their mothers used it during pregnancies, prior to the third trimester. In November 1961, thalidomide ...