Thalidomide: A Drug to Define a Generation.

Thalidomide developed by German pharmaceutical company Grünenthal was licensed in the UK in 1958. The drug was developed as a sleeping pill but was later known to help with severe sickness. Soon after doctors began prescribing Distaval, as it was known in the UK, to expectant mothers to ease morning sickness. By 1960 Thalidomide was being sold in forty-six countries across the globe, with sales reaching record highs.

In 1961 the drug was withdrawn from use in the UK after it was found that it was the cause of deformities in newborn babies. An Australian doctor recognised a correlation between mothers taking Thalidomide and babies being born with deformities to their limbs. It was only after he wrote an open letter to The Lancet that it become public knowledge that Thalidomide was the cause of the sudden increase in babies being born with deformities. It is estimated that around 10,000 babies were affected across the globe. The drug caused many babies to be born with phocomelia a condition resulting in the shortening or absence of limbs, but it also caused problems internally with the children suffered from heart, kidney and digestive problems too. Many of the babies born suffering from the effects of Thalidomide died within the first few weeks of their lives, ‘40% of victims died before their first birthday’ due to complications the drug caused. Thalidomide was also prescribe for numerous other illness’, such as influenza and was often used in cough medicines designed for children, it is because of this that the drug remained in use for many years after it was formally withdrawn.

There was still huge amount of stigma attached to having a disabled child in the 1960s. Many of the children who did survive the early weeks of their lives were often put in homes for disabled children by their parents. In some cases children as young as five weeks were placed in these residential homes only to return to their parents for the weekend. For those children who stayed at home they were often cruelly laughed at whenever they left the house.

During its testing scientists concluded it was almost impossible to overdose on the drug which made it appealing as a sleeping tablet, for many of the others on the market would be lethal in higher doses. However, scientists failed to test Thalidomide to see what effect it would have on pregnant women or the unborn child. It is because of this that the UK and America introduced tougher testings and stringent drug approval procedures so that the horrors of Thalidomide are never repeated.

After decades of fighting for compensation, families were eventually given £80 million by the UK Government which was shared among the families and used to set up a charity, Thalidomide UK, to help the families still affected by Thalidomide. The money is used to give some financial security to those affected as they continue to face growing health problems and different  requirements. Grünethal the original manufacturer of the drug did set up €50 million fund for the victims but it was mainly shared among those effect in Germany and on the Continent, British victims were never compensated by the company.   

Today the drug is still in use, being used in treatment for cancer and leprosy, but is heavily regulated so a repeat of the tragic events of the 1960s don’t happen again.

By Charlii Ashenden