Tthalidomide: Babies In The Late 1950s

In the late 1950s a pharmaceutical agent called thalidomide was place on the market and was used by pregnant woman to relive them from nausea and morning sickness. The drug wasn’t approved by the FDA and caused over 10,000 birth defects. Researchers later found out that thalidomide was able to seep through the placenta and cause phocomelia. Phocomelia is a rare condition that causes malformed limbs. Babies born with this birth defect had a 50 percent chance of surviving. After this incident congress reevaluated the Food, Drug, and cosmetic act and added amendments to it, making the drug approval and safety regulations stricter. After the changes to the 1938 act animal testing became the norm in drug testing procedures. (Ross-Fitcher & Noble
2016)