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In the late 1950s and early 1960s, the use of thalidomide in 46 countries by women who were pregnant or who subsequently became pregnant resulted in the "biggest anthropogenic medical disaster ever," with more than 10,000 children born with a range of severe deformities, such as phocomelia, as well as thousands of miscarriages.
Thalidomide is a known human teratogen and carries an extremely high risk of severe, life-threatening birth defects if administered during pregnancy. It causes skeletal deformities such as amelia (absence of legs and/or arms), absence of bones, and phocomelia (malformation of the limbs).
Apr 19, 2011 · The thalidomide tragedy marked a turning point in toxicity testing, as it prompted United States and international regulatory agencies to develop systematic toxicity testing protocols; the use of thalidomide as a tool in developmental biology led to important discoveries in the biochemical pathways of limb development.
- James H. Kim, Anthony R. Scialli
- 2011
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Mar 23, 2020 · Overseas, thousands of babies in Germany, England and other countries were being born with severe defects tied to their mothers’ use of thalidomide, a drug widely taken for insomnia, morning ...
Nov 3, 2011 · After a German newspaper reported that Thalidomide was the likely cause for the mysterious spate of disabled babies born in Germany since 1958, the drug's producer, Chemie Gruenenthal, caved in...
Aug 1, 2018 · Thalidomide, a drug banned in 1961 for causing severe fetal harm, acts by degrading SALL4, a protein involved in limb development and organ growth. The finding will help guide the development of new drugs with similar structure as thalidomide.
The catastrophic collapse yet subsequent revival of thalidomide provides important lessons in drug development. Never entirely abandoned by the medical community, thalidomide resurfaced as an important drug once the mechanisms of action were further studied and better understood.
