1957: Thalidomide, a drug developed to help women overcome the symptoms of morning sickness during pregnancy, is first marketed in West Germany. Forty-six countries approve its use before thalidomide's terrible side effects become apparent.
Thalidomide is a powerful synthetic tranquilizer, originally developed by Ciba, a Swiss pharmaceutical company. Unable to make it commercially profitable, Ciba gave up on the drug. A German company, Chemie Gruenenthal, took over and eventually began marketing thalidomide as a "completely safe" method for warding off morning sickness.
Except thalidomide wasn't "completely safe." In fact, it was quite the opposite.
Inadequate testing procedures were to blame for what followed. Had the pharmaceutical labs done a better job of testing thalidomide, they would have discovered that the drug's molecules were able to penetrate the placental wall, especially during the first trimester of pregnancy when the fetus is largely unformed.
This invasion of the womb resulted in a variety of profound birth defects, including deformed and missing limbs, deafness, blindness, cleft palate and a slew of internal problems.
By the early 1960s, more than 10,000 thalidomide babies had been born. Although many died in infancy (an estimated 40 percent died before their first birthday), quite a few survived into adulthood. Now in their 40s, most thalidomide survivors continue suffering from a variety of chronic health problems directly related to their...
Wired.com
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