Scandal: Thalidomide The worlds worst Medical Disaster? | Short Documentary
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- čas přidán 5. 06. 2024
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Once touted as a wonder drug that could alleviate any form of nausea Thalidomide also known as Contergan, was prescribed to pregnant women, but soon enough the wonder medicine would become a nightmare...
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I have liked the new series and want to see more, just letting you know ;)
I'm here for anything you post!
Yes yes yes
Definately need more of this.
its great, keep up the good work
My mother was offered it, but her morning sickness was mild, she did not believe in medicine for every little discomfort, and she turned it down. Thanks mom!
Very very lucky!!
Smart lady!
She's damn lucky.
I met a kid once, his mom took it. You dodged a bullet.
Same here! My mom was a pediatric nurse and had heard suspicions about the drug and the birth defects. Thanks, mom!!
Around 1960, I grew up next door to a boy who had Thalidomide deformed arms. We used to all play together, and we kids didn't think much of it, although we knew he was different. We were all around 8-11 years old. One of his arms ended a few inches from his shoulder, with 3 fingers. His other arm stopped at the elbow, with 2 fingers. He moved away later.
I saw him again when I was around 22. I went to a club with a girlfriend to dance to the live rock band playing there. They sounded great. The drummer was perfect. When I got closer to the band, I saw that it was that same guy, all grown up, and living a normal life. He played drums like any drummer would, with maybe not as much speed, but perfect timing and musicianship.
It was nice to see that he turned out alright.
this is such a heartwarming story! glad to know the guy's ok
is he mat fraser
hope he's happy in his life, not religious but god bless
I had a substitute teacher who had been a victim of thalidomide, he had hands on wrists that were attached to his shoulders (no arms).
He had artificial arms?
As a new Pharmacist this drug still haunts us. It's something that is informally covered in our degree to the point we can name almost every detail of the incident. Now that doctors are starting to prescribe it again (for certain illnesses), you get the worst feeling filling this script. For all the bad, this single drug is what gets most people in pharmacy interested in Organic Chem, which I guess is a positive
There was a time in my life where I studied pharmacy all day every day but then just worked dead end jobst instead because I had difficulties to rationalize selling stuff like ssris or stuff that destroys dopamine pathways. I was damn good at everything involving pharmacy and still am, it's a passion of mine after all. I still work dead end jobs but over the years I witbessed quite a few associates committing the unthinkabke after getting treated with said medications and this was it for me. I would rather break my back in landscaping than going forward with rhe career.
I hope you can go forward with your career, unlike me. I wish the best for you, man.
@@mijavidust1089what would be the problem with SSRIs from your perspective? I started taking them after some quick googling which didn't tell me much about long-term bad side effects
Still being used. It's hiding in today,s other medicine. that's where all the side effects are coming g from.
@DieterDuplak314 They're a pharmacist, I'm pretty sure they know more than your google search
My lovely teacher in primary school was what we call a "contergan baby" - she had deformities in her face, arms and hands. I remember her telling us about it in a very child friendly way, so it's shocking and eye opening to hear how it actually was.
Im glad to hear that not only was she able to go out and do a job I'm sure she loved despite the difficulties she might have faced, but also that she was able to teach children about birth defects (thalidomide or otherwise) and relay that just because one might look different doesn't mean they're any less kind, fun and 'normal' as anyone else. I hope you and her have a wonderful day 😊
I think it's so important to let children know info that relates to their curiosity! It's natural to wonder and I'm glad that your teacher explained it well:)
She sounds like a lovely person, and also like a girl I went to high school with. She didn't have any facial deformities, but her hands and arms were very much affected. She was sweet, and a bit shy, but people weren't as cruel to her as you might have expected in a small town high school back then. I think everyone understood that she'd already had enough to deal with, and she dealt with it with a lot of skill and grace. She ended up becoming a teacher too, and I'm sure she taught a lot of kids not to judge a person's abilities by their appearance!
Shame on her mom for being so cowardly to take those pills
@@draculastraphouse7863 tf is wrong with you
I was born in 1962. When my mother was carrying me, she had really bad morning sickness. She asked her doctor (later my doctor) about this new wonder-drug called Thalidomide. Doctor Graham advised her to read a good book instead. Perhaps he’d heard about the growing negative research about the drug, but it was good advice, and I was born with normal limbs.
The book was Mansfield Park, by Jane Austen, a beefy tome I inherited. That book prevented the often drastic and often disastrous operations performed on Thalidomide babies, and has allowed me to live a normal life, and I’m thankful to my mum, Doctor Ian Graham and Jane Austen for that.
That's a hell of a book recommendation right there.
@@jasonleclare2273 One for which I’m extremely grateful. I’ve never actually read it (not one of my genres), but it is the first book on the lowest shelf of my now obsolete bookshelf (I get most of my books on Kindle now), and I point it out to house guests.
While interesting (and extremely fortunate) that the doctor recommended a good book, I'm not sure reading has the power to quell serious nausea. I hope the good doctor gave her other options to relieve her symptoms instead of basically blowing her off.
@@Dragonblaster1Are you a male? If so, you should look into the studies showing males learn slower and retain less information from digitial vs physical books. Iirc the studies I read showed that we all learn and retain less from digital books, but that males were far more greatly affected. I havent kept up with the research but if it's still accurate you may want to opt for a physical book when not reading for pleasure. 🙂
@@maymarsh9117 Don’t worry, I read plenty of written material and books as well. I’m 59 now, and I joined Mensa at age 55, so I don’t think my brain has been too addled. And I read like crazy as I was growing up.
I had a close family friend who's wife took Thalidomide early in her pregnancy and their daughter was born with her left arm missing from about 6 inches below her elbow. It just ended with a bone covered by skin. And if she got mad and hit you with it, it hurt. She was fitted with a device that had a curved set if "pincers" so she could grasp and pick up objects with it. She was a smart, bright girl who didn't let her deformity slow her down. This video made me think of her for the first time in years. She was also the March of Dimes poster child in the late 1960's in our area.
One of my class mate's right arm ended not far below his elbow. He, too, had a prosthesis fitted. I'm not 100% certain (it was a long time ago) but I think thalidomide might have played a part.
Same-kid right after his wrist, left arm.
I thought March of Dimes was strictly polio.
@@sigsin1 No. At least in the late 1960's they were working to prevent birth defects due to prescription drugs. If I remember correctly they were involved in a few causes.
@@sigsin1 They were. I was in the "put a dime on the line" drill on Main Street in Elkhart, IN in 1944. After the cure they wisely chose something for which a cure would not be forthcoming.
A doctor once called me a "pill phobic". I saw he wrote that in my chart so I asked him why it was bad to ask about prescriptions. He said he was the one who went to medical school and to trust in medicine's advances. Nowadays you get an entire printout about your medications.
Sounds like a pill pusher. Get a new doctor
The only thing the doctor got from medical school is an inflated ego.
I hope you switched primary care. Nothing worse than a doctor that has no empathy
If I am not familiar with a new medication, I closely read up the small letters they put inside where all possible side effects are mentioned. Its there for a reason, read it!
I first learned about the horrors of thalidomide in middle school. My friend and I for unknown reasons memorized the song We Didn't Start The Fire together. We only understood like 5% of the references and decided to google the weirdest sounding words to find out what they meant, such as Thalidomide, Starkweather and Eichmann.
We regretted it.
I know my school in the early 90s used the song as references/research, although I can't remember if it was social studies or history (probably the former) Of course, this was during proto internet so it was a bit harder than a google search.
I honestly think that song becomes more and more important as time goes on. Those were horrors from the past, ones the newer generations (who are blamed for destroying the world today) had nothing to do with either. It's a really good song in need of a revival. This world has ALWAYS been a site of terrible events.
I did that too! More for learning English. But I never googled thalidomide. And I'm pretty happy I waited on that one.
@@Solaceonthere's a new one made now
I grew up in Germany, and my Kindergarten teacher was affected by thalidomide. Her arms did not develop fully/correctly, so she did everything with her toes. It was so cool to see her cut paper, she did it better than I still could with my hands. She was a cool gal, and she was always very inspirational to me.
There was a kid in my class in primary school who was missing a hand due to a birth issue, he was better at writing than me despite me having no defects. I’ve always been bad with scissors but at my school he wasn’t allowed to try and use his toes or anything but I wouldn’t have been surprised if he was better than me. It’s great to see your teacher was able to adapt and live a good life despite her defects, it’s sad that this scandal happened and it’s awful that so many people suffered, but on the positive side many effected people were able to live on in some form rather than just miscarrying.
I always love seeing people do things with their feet. Mine are pretty dexterous, and my hands are standard-issue!
@@janerecluse4344 Heh, I can barely walk with my own feet and there's "nothing wrong" with me ;)
I have a wrestling coach that has malformed hands from this, he can still whoop my rear without hands, I have a good 28kg or so on him and he can trip you without you even realizing what happened.
And now you have a wicked foot fetish
A woman I knew had a miscarriage due to Thalidomide. ALL of the doctors in the country were interested in her next pregnancy as they did not know if the genetic effects of the Thalidomide would have a permanent effect on the mother's ability to bear healthy children, or if it only affected embryos that were directly exposed. She was the first in this country to have another child after a Thalidomide effect. The child turned out ok and now has four healthy children of his own.
It was the silver-lining of the whole sandal. At least we could know whether people with leprosy or cancer and treated with thalidomide could give birth to healthy children after treatment.
Unlike diethylstilbesterol, that one affects germ cells in the embryo meaning multiple generations can suffer effects.
Cap
@@lethalfire6247 seems like a weird thing to lie about but it could be sure
@@llcdrdndgrbd not really, people lie about anything to get clout
As a chemist I was taught about this drug. It was used as an example of the importance of enantiomers. One enantiomer is a sedative, the other is a tetratogen. None of this other history was taught and I feel its really important.
This is such an underrated comment! I was scrolling way to long to reach it. We also used to learn about enantiomers and even in my pharmacology classes Contergan/Thalidomide was *the* prime example why you shouldn't take shortcuts in synthesis. Especially when your license is just for one enantiomer!
Or you just watched breaking bad.
My mother was strongly advised to take thalidomide when she was pregnant with my younger sister. Our old-school "doctor knows best" GP was not best pleased when she point blank refused. To the end of her days Mum couldn't really explain why she refused it beyond a lifelong dislike of taking medication and the knowledge from her first pregnancy (me) that the morning sickness would eventually stop anyway. If Mum hadn't faced down the GP my sister would probably have turned out very differently from the pretty, funny, sporty girl that she became. It makes me shudder just to think about it
Your mother has good intuition. I'm relieved that everything turned out okay. Now, THATS dodging a bullet!
I went to school with a "Thalidomide Baby" here in the US; his mother was part of the clinical trials before they were halted. He was mentally OK, but his legs and one arm were tiny and misshapen. He rather painfully hobbled around on prosthetic legs and crutches. Unsurprisingly, he was not a particularly cheerful fellow, although he did the best he could. No idea what happened to him after high school...
Reading comments like this is jolting the memory of when I was in elementary school and there was a kid I would often see with a tiny, "rolled up" arm and his other hand had 3 fingers. As a 6-7 year old kid I was always curious why he was that way but my parents would always hush me up fast and tell me to shut up.
I still don't know why of course, but the thought of it being from Thalidomide is horrifyingly sad.
@@NakedOwl501 holy cow you just unlocked a memory for me, I remember being friends with one of those babies in elementary school. He would constantly have bullies but it was never his fault. Poor guy, I hope he is doing well- if he's a good person.
@@AdolfHitler-wo1my🥹😊😇
That’s funny I hope whites mothers are forced to take it today
This is fake news, we need to TRUST the science and pharma! They would never lie to us for profit that's a racist conspiracy theory
My grandma actually took it while she was pregnant with my dad, luckily after the period when it could affect the unborn child. But it sure must have been terrifying to know that while the scandal came to light
So lucky
oh thank god your dad got lucky!
Only surpassed by the clot-shot.
@@CBTheMechanic A neutron star would be envious of your incredible density....
@@satan.is.my.copilot The new phenomenon of SADS (sudden adult death syndrome) will get worse over the upcoming years and there will be explanations.
My mother asked her doctor to prescribe it for her morning sickness he refused saying he was very hesitant about giving drugs to pregnant women.Every time I see someone with the flipper arms from Thalidomide I cringe inside I always wanted to thank the Doctor but he died when I was very young.Dr William McBride is a saint for discovering the link to birth defects.
It wasn't McBride who discovered the link, it was a midwife, Sister Pat Sparrow, who worked with his patients - and their babies. He was even hesitant at first to believe her (and then did all he could to steal the credit). And that was only in Australia & New Zealand. The video spent a decent amount of time explaining this. As such, sanctifying him singularly, well, it comes off as rather weird.
Of further note about McBride (which was not discussed in the video) is that, much later, he had his medical credentials revoked by authorities because of fraud he committed related to the development of another drug. Doesn't seem like an altogether stand-up guy.
@@mnxs W o w. Man, that dude was a dick.
Also that midwife rocks.
My mother lost 3 babies to Thalidomide, twins Robert and Simon (February 10,1963) and Ruth (my twin sister, November 3, 1963). Yes I am affected by Thalidomide, I was sent home to die as the doctors needed the humidicrib I was in for other babies ( they believed I was too weak to survive), I’ve just turned 60 and I’m obviously still here. My mother took Thalidomide between days 23-26 of her pregnancy with Ruth and I. Thalidomide was banned in Australia August 1962, the federal government never made the announcement as it wanted to avoid public hysteria, so there was no government agent follow up to make sure doctors and pharmacists weren’t still prescribing or dispensing the drug to pregnant women.
My mother was prescribed it by our family doctor and dispensed by our family pharmacist for her depression after losing Robert and Simon, she didn’t know she was pregnant with Ruth and l and she ended up taking the drug between days 23-26 of her pregnancy.
Thankfully Thalidomide wasn't just binned as it is a highly effective cancer drug, I know this because I was diagnosed with Multiple Myeloma, a blood cancer and combined with Velcade and Dexamethasone successfully got me into remission. I'm now on a maintenance chemo regime which uses low-dose Lenalidomide (which from another comment to this video is a derivative of Thalidomide)as the active cancer drug, which also can cause 'birth defects'. The only side effect Ihave is peripheral neuropathy, eg numb feet. Another excellent bit of storytelling John, thank you.
Thank so much
I'm so glad to hear you're in remission. My mom has relapsed Multiple Myeloma and is taking pomalidomide (Pomalyst), an even more potent thalidomide derivative than Revlimid, along with Krypolis (more potent Velcade) and Dex. She also has had no side effects from it besides neuropathy and her numbers are improving dramatically. It beats the hell out of the nasty chemotherapy that used to be MM patients' only option!
If I recall correctly it's also used to treat certain types of leprosies as well.
@@deanchur Yes! It's actually become a wonder drug.
It is a legitimately useful compound... provided you're not pregnant. But many people who aren't pregnant women can and do use it or one of the derivatives to this day, for a number of useful and even life-saving reasons.
The story of Frances Oldham Kelsey and her refusal to authorize the use of Thalidomide came at nearly the same time as another woman scientist was warning about another chemical DDT. Rachel Carson's book, "Silent Spring" was vehemently opposed by DuPont and the chemical industry and they spent a lot of money trying to discredit her and the book. The parallels are hard to ignore!
A lot of the information in that book turned out to have been fabricated. About 20 years ago there was a website that had a running count of the tens of millions of people who died as a consequence of the DDT ban. (Malaria deaths.)
@@colincampbell767 -- You are a zero content troll, or, to be more precise, you are an astroturfer!
Except silent spring was a nonsense book and banning DDT probably caused the deaths of millions of people across the third world.
This "era" was also when tobacco companies were actually using Doctors' to recommend smoking as "good for you".
Well thank god for those two! With Kelsey stopping thalidomide from being sold in America, and Carson publishing a book on the matter, it’s good to see figures we’re advocating against such a harmful drug
My grandmother trained as an occupational therapist in the 60s, and one of her student placements was assisting babies and young children affected by thalidomide. She saw everything including some really horrific defects where children were born with no limbs at all, or had limbs which were so deformed they’d be useless or cause pain.
I was born in the mid 80s far after this happened in Germany. But we all heard the stories from our parents and grandparents about the "Contergan-Kinder". We all knew it was a bad thing as kids. Something as big as the Chernobyl catastrophe healthwise. But only later we learned this was due to this medication. I'm a father of two now and I feel so sorry for the parents who had to endure losing a child or having children with defects
It would have been great to give to all the pregnant immigrants now……oh, wait, it’s all men coming over seas for your moms, sisters and daughters….🤷
Yup, the way we first heard of it sounded as if Contergan was the medical term for their condition. We‘re kids, use WORDS, plz. =/
My Mama took it. I was born with several birth defects. My feet were twisted up, I had six toes on both feet. My legs looked like Forrest Gumps. I wore leg braces for six months.
The doctor told her if was completely safe for her headaches. We know it wasn't.
My brother and sister were okay. Sis was very premature but not because of thalidomide.
do you still have extra toes? you made it sound like they cut em off
I’m very sorry to hear of your struggles. I hope you were/are able to still find happiness in your lifetime. Wishing you the best!
@@microdisturbia they probably did cut them off, I had a friend who had an extra finger from birth and they removed that
That is horrible and I am hoping you have had a fulfilling life. Was born with kidney disease. Had to have a transplant, now 34 and am healthy. Unfortunately had an iron transfusion on Friday and the nurses had a fun time of hunt down an actual working vein, which led to the only working vein collapsing and now my skin is brown and so now it looks like a large birthmark. So yay I now have to wait a fair few weeks for it to fade. CURSE YOU VEINS!
@Hannah Mabbott
"the only working vein" -- You have several hundred veins, most too deep to safely 'tap' with a needle. Consider having a doctor put in a P.I.C.C. line, a nuisance but helpful.
My mother requested it but she had an "old fashioned" doctor who refused to prescribe what he considered an experimental drug.
hero
@@newvideosystem8592 She was pregnant with me at the time and had severe morning sickness, an ideal candidate for the new "wonder drug".
Smart doctor
and to think doctors now do what the government says or they will get their medical license revoked for a experimental drug.
I work in a hospital pharmacy and it shocked me when I walked in and saw thalidomide on the shelf. It's now used to fix certain types of cancers but before every cycle of thalidomide they need blood tests and need to follow other procedures to make sure either the person isn't pregnant or won't get someone pregnant
i knew about the birth defects if women took it but I didn't know it could affect sperm, apparently it can
My mother had seven children from 1951-1961 in the US and most of us would probably have been born with deformities if it hadn't been for that courageous woman Frances Kelsey. When this video started I wondered why none of us had been affected, and then learned about her. Thank you for that information.
Bless Frances Kelsey's adherence to scientific evidence and ethics over pressure from a big company. She saved so many children with her work.
Not just children thalidomide is also a sensory neurotoxin hence the other side-effects.
That woman is a true hero. She was the best person for the job, not only for her knowledge, but for not letting anyone convince her to do what she knew was right. A rare combo.
So many people living here in the US have to thank her for their quality of life, or even their existence. I was born in Jamaica, but I have a feeling our government would have approved it if the US did, so I'm thanking her too for my family!
I wish people in the FDA still held themselves to these standards these days.
I went to school with a boy who was a Thalidomide baby. He had significant limb deformity of both legs, both arms, and both hands. Luckily, he was quite capable and was able to participate in most activities with the use of his prosthetic legs. He would have been born in the early to mid 80’s, so this was very unusual in Canada at the time, but I believe his mother was from Brazil where Thalidomide usage by pregnant women was still more prevalent.
As a brazilian born in the early to mid eighties, I can confirm that for some freak reason, this drug was still sold in Brazil with no warnings to pregnant women. I had a friend that had one arm that didn't develop well due to his mother being prescribed this drug to treat nausea during pregnancy.
@@gcolombelli the prescription for pregnant women was only prohibited after 1994, so went for a very long time. I was born in mid eighties too.
This sounds so similar to South American women using Nestle as baby formula. I fucking hate our times.
1980s! That's criminal. By then, the effects were known and documented for some 20 years.
@@gcolombelli Thalodomid IS still sold in Brazil because it is the most Important drug against lepra. Unfortanatly the education of the women using is is weak about the risks of thalodomid.
And they wonder why so many people weren't willing to "just trust the science".
My great Aunt Francis was a Thalidomide baby. She was born with short legs and her hands basically attached to her elbows. She was mentally slow and horribly unfriendly to everyone who didn't give her her way 100% of the time.
And her mother was in America, so she must have either been part of that clinical trial or got her hands on some of those 2.5 million tablets that made it over here.
I think it’s worth pointing out that the Thalidomide molecule comes in left and right handed versions which are identical in every way apart from the fact that you can’t superimpose them on one another. The left handed version was doing all the good stuff where as the right handed one was causing horrendous birth defects.
This is why drug testing is so stringent because even having a mirror image of the same molecule can be enough of a difference to horrifying effect.
My chemistry teacher mentioned using this as an example when talking about enantiomers. And about the part that only the right hand version does the bad things, yes, but even if you only take that one enantiomer it will be converted into the racemic mixture in the body, so just taking the one enantiomer doesn't help
@@giancahe8202 my teacher also said the same. He’s a great teacher, too bad he got lung cancer😢
I learned about this in conjunction with quantum tunnelling, when a left handed molecule spontaneously turns right handed or vice versa.
If I recall my A-level Chemistry, the Thalidomide scandal was how optical isomerism was discovered.
And that's why I didn't take the vax!
Just finishing a pharmacy degree - we're drilled the ramifications and repercussions of this drug. It has basically spawned an entirely new branch of medicinal chemistry and pharmaceutics - drug isomerism.
That's really fascinating, I can imagine it was a tough degree to earn!
Drug molecules (in fact most molecules) can have handedness - the functional groups are arranged in a way that is not unlike a hand - you can't wear a left hand glove on your right hand. This means that there may be several distinct versions of the same molecule, with the same chemical formula. This is vitally important, because our body is also made of handed molecules - receptors respond differently to the different handed molecules, because the molecules may fit differently into the receptor, like that glove analogy. For example, L-Carvone produces the smell of spearmint. R-Carvone produces the smell of rye and caraway.
Thalidomide also has these forms, and L-thalidomide is highly effective and not toxic, and R-thalidomide causes the issues in the video. The problem is that thalidomide was marketed as a mixture, and it also converts between the forms in the body, so it cannot be given safely in pregnancy, ever.
Sorry for the long read - this is just an area of interest for me!
What's a drug isomer?
@@rainsfall2494 in my reply above, each form of the same molecule, L - R (or E -Z) is considered an isomer!
Mankind need to get away from the idea that there is a magic pill for everything that ails you.
I’m not saying all meds are bad, but our dependence on them is.
Its pretty crazy to me how shady the medical field is and how they have openly given us harmful substances and turned a blind eye to it yet people will still blindly follow their advice and shame any one that questions it
Over time we learn more about these substances and which medications are safe in which situations & doses.
Medications now require more stringent testing. Horrible things happen, but we as a society try to learn from them and stop them from happening again.
Still, in our current system there's no wonder that profit encourages businesses to hedge their bets rather than doing more thorough testing. It's good that there are people like Frances Kelsey in the world, people who we can trust to focus on caring for others.
After all, I like to think that most people care about others, especially in the medical profession.
it's nice to know that despite the reaction to this scandal, we still haven't learned anything
Because the system isn't set up for you to learn anything it's set up for you to be controlled by it.
Company makes thing, government and media shills thing like the good little pet of the companies they are, thing turns out to be bad and government gives their master a slap on the wrist to pretend like they won't do it again in 3 weeks when you've forgotten.
When the USA is normally mentioned in one of these videos, it’s usually because of something horrific. It’s refreshing to see the rare case of someone in charge doing something right in this country.
Well, this channel focuses on disaster and negligence, so hearing good things about these topics is never the norm.
Yes, especially because of current events in the US, I'm feeling especially disgusted by my home country.
@@WouldntULikeToKnow. yeah it’s pretty fuckin stupid.
ikr it's like hearing something good about saudi arabia
You're not alone in your feelings @@WouldntULikeToKnow.
We should never forget this. I once met a 'thalomide' lady who could put her contact lenses in and out of her eyes with her feet and could type with her feet. I will never forget her, an inspiring and amazing lady and if im finding something difficult I think of her and the problems she overcome
I feel stupid asking this, but I'm near the beginning of the video so haven't got to the effects yet: did she have usual length legs and feet? I was at primary school in the 1970s and we had a friend with a prosthetic leg because one was about a quarter of the size of the other, that might have been caused by Thalidomide. We only saw the leg when swimming (maybe PE?) and from what I remember it had no effect on his capability on that front.
She didn't overcome anything, she made due with what she had.
@@Acetyl53 that's..what overcoming is???
@@Acetyl53 buy a dictionary
@@thea1990x yeah- I’m pretty sure that kinda is what overcoming is- and yes I did look it up
“She overcame the disability by using what she has” is a good sentence
one of my dad's friends and band members was one of the first cases in germany (according to my dad, so not 100%on that). he was born without arms and missing several fingers but despite this he was an amazing bass player. it's incredible how much people can overcome but horrible to think that they have to overcome anything at all just because someone wanted to make more profit
You ought to look up the origins of *Heavy Metal* genre . While on the surface it might be seen as a hindrance, missing fingers were what allowed Tommy Iomi to craft the unique play style that is now a bassis for many songs.
This scandal was so wide spread and impactful it got a mention in Billy Joel's We Didn't start the fire with the line " Children of Thalidomide."
I knew a guy from Germany who was deformed by this drug. His name was Cyberk and he had a deformed arm but was a super cool dude and smart and set up pirate radio stations for our community as well as computer/tech repair guy. He lived into his late 40s and died when he was home in Germany, his life span was a little longer than most with that affliction.
RIP Cyberk. Gone too soon.
Cyberk is a amazing name .
Cool-ass name for a cool-ass dude. Rest in peace Cyberk.
rest in peace cyberk.
you had a cool name
late 40s would be a really short lifespan for someone who's affected by thalidomide. At first it was believed it would cut the lifespan to their teens, but that wasn't actually the case. in germany about half of the people affected made it to their 60s - that was 5 years ago, so most of them are probably still going strong.
this kind of horror is the reason it's totally understandable to be skeptical and critique medical science even in this age. this is why it's important to keep rigorous testing and standards, and to hold scientists and companies responsible.
@@firstLast-jw7bm Nah its "Climate Change" causing all these heart attacks/SADS/SCDS/miscarriage/monkeypox etc... lol
@@firstLast-jw7bm We've already got one, it's called Oxycodone.
@@SynchroScore hear, hear. If there ever was a case where one could argue the death penalty for an entire family dynasty, it would be the Sackler family. I sure wouldn't lose any sleep.
@@SynchroScore Is it just the opioid crisis Part 2 or like, an unrelated scandal not linked to "STOP MAKING YOUR PATIENTS ADDICTS FFS"
@@neoqwerty Well, it's an ongoing scandal, concerning the collusion between drug companies and regulatory agencies to not put meaningful measures in place to prevent a wave of addicts.
I only heard about this one through “Call the Midwife”, a PBS station show about midwives in a smaller UK city IIRC, and I remember the doctor on the show being so shocked and horrified by what his prescription had done.
This reminds me of something that has happened recently, just can't put my finger on it???? Maybe some one will make a video about the carnage in a few years.
Would that something be involving blood clots, brain bleeds, miscarriages and "sudden unexpected death"?
@@josedorsaith5261 Among countless others
For doctors, this scandal still comes with a weird practical quirk in perscription today:
In Germany, we have 4 "steps" regarding drugs:
1. Over-The-Counter
2. Pharmacy-Only
3. Perscription-Only
4. Narcotic (Special BTM-Rezept required)
All perscription-only drugs can be perscribed on any piece of paper, except for thalidomide and its derivates lemalidomide and podalidomide. These need to be perscriped on a T-Rezept, which, like the BTM-Rezept is pre-printed and pre-numbered by the state. It only has a very limited deadline to turn in and requires the doctor to go through special briefing documents with the patient.
The weird thing is that other highly teratogenic drugs like valproat and mycophenolate don't require any special form. Retinoids (Isotretinoin, etc. ) don't either, although specific guidelines for deadlines and information apply. Long story shot, it's a huge mess.
I worked for a Specialty pharmacy in the U.S. that is contracted to fill prescriptions for Thalomid (Thalidomide), Revlimid (Lenalidomide), and Pomalyst (Pomalidomide). Doctors could fax or send the prescriptions to the pharmacy via fax or e-scribe (electronically). However, in order for the prescriptions to be valid, they had to include two distinct pieces of information: the patient’s reproductive status and an authorization number through the manufacturer, Celgene. The Celgene medications are under a very strict REMS (Risk Evaluation and Mitigation Strategies) Program. In order to obtain the authorization number, the doctor has to complete a survey through the manufacturer alongside the patient. The patient’s reproductive status determines the nature of the questions. There are three primary ones (though there are juvenile categories that are very rarely used): Adult Male, Adult Female of Reproductive Potential (AFRP), and Adult Female Not of Reproductive Potential (AFNRP). AFNRP patients are only required to take a survey every six months with the manufacturer due to their diminished risk of fetal harm. Adult Males and AFRP patients must take the survey every time the medication is filled, but the females require a negative pregnancy test in between each fill. Once the survey is complete, the authorization number is generated. Each number is valid for 30 days, except for AFRP patients whose numbers are only valid for 7 days. If this 7-day window is bypassed, the doctor and the patient must begin the survey process again and another negative pregnancy test is required. Prior to dispensing, patients are required to be counseled by the pharmacy LPN’s so any adverse drug effects could be obtained and documented within 24 hours. After that, medication delivery would be scheduled and each delivery requires a signature. Rinse and repeat every 21-28 days depending on the patient’s therapeutic cycle.
It depends on the Retinoids, if it’s cream they don’t really need any sort of patient education/ forms, but with the pill they require anyone with a uterus to not only be on multiple forms of birth control but also sign a consent that they understand the fetal risk and that they do not plan on having a child while on it.
currently watching this with my 4 month old with me, this was my first and probably the only pregnancy i will ever go through as my morning sickness was so bad that i was admitted to hospital to be put on a drip and have antiemetic injections as i couldn’t even manage to keep a sip of water down at some points. i, like many other women, are so lucky to have access to medication now that is known to be safe to take whilst pregnant. morning sickness can be debilitating and none of those women who took thalidomide should be vilified. i see commenters implying that only ‘weak’ women took the drug and that they only have themselves to blame, as if it was selfish of them to take what a doctor recommended to help them feel better..
I was not aware of such morning sickness as you discuss above. Of course, one would need relief from such - I was not vilifying the women, but I am vilifying the docs who do not look into adverse affects for pregnant women and primarily the drug companies who push untested products for profit.
@@LJ-ht4zs you’re right, of course the true evil people in this situation are the doctors and pharmaceutical companies. it’s not your fault that you weren’t aware how bad morning sickness could get, i think a lot of people don’t understand the extent of how bad it can be sometimes. i never expected to be as bad as i was and was judged on occasion for needing to take medication just to get through the day
@@lowri. Many of us did not know the extent how women were severely affected with morning sickness - I am sorry for your suffering. This makes what Big Pharma did even worse - not doing it due diligence in the testing - especially for a problem that needed solutions.
I am sorry that your were judged - when I first read the article - thought why ". did women take meds for morning sickness, while it is not pleasant, they could "ride it out". Certainly not the case.
I took medication my entire pregnancy due to hyperemesis. It didn't fully solve it but cut down on the frequency of my illness so I could eat, drink, and function. Prior to taking it, I lost 8lb in one week and couldn't get off the floor, I couldn't even sip water without throwing it up and more. Of course I worried about all sorts of potential side effects, thanks to going down the thalidomide rabbit hole years earlier, but the effects of me not being able to sustain myself or my baby were more imminently serious. Thankfully it all turned out okay, and I now have a happy, healthy 6 yr old.
I definitely felt the pressure and felt like a failure though, but literally nothing else worked so I had no other choice. I understand completely why women opted for thalidomide, and I will never vilify them. Only the companies who pushed it without testing and due diligence.
I'm American but my aunt suffered from this, Grandma was a military wife and the government doctors had early access to the medication as part of the testing program.
She was the shortest, grumpiest, derpirst aunt of them all: but are had a kind heart. It could have been much worse than her being a little slow and lumpy. Her kind heart gave out in the end, I can't say it's because of the medication directly: but it certainly contributed to her diet of moon pies and whisky. Best aunt 🥃🌙
At 22:00 the whole time watching this, i think about the present events in medical world.......and the questions many people have these days......
The doctor of my grandmother insisted on prescribing her Contergan against her morning sickness, claiming that it would be the only thing making it better. She refused to take or even buy it regardless, because of the rumours that started circling. I'm very glad she decided against it.
What an unscientific grandmother! listening to the rumors instead of her doctor... tsk-tsk... Today she would probably refuse corona vaxxes as well!
@Juu Tuub Reasonable doubts are science. Flat earth isn’t a science. Denying healthcare isn’t a science.
Imagine if this happened today. She'd be called a crazy conspiracy theorist for not trusting the science.
@@RaizerZ she was probably called that back then, too.
Great video! I personally would have liked a little more information about why thalidomide causes birth defects. This scandal is a favorite among professors in biology and chemistry to explain stereo isomerism. Basically, for some molecules two versions exist which only differ in the relative orientation of their atoms to each other, think of it as them being bent in two slightly different shapes. Turns out this slight difference can lead to wildly differing biochemical properties, see thalidomide. If I remember correctly, this wasn't picked up during the initial animal trials because a different manufacturing process was used that only yielded the non-toxic isomer. When mass production was initiated, the process was altered which led to both isomers being present in the final product. The rest, as you say, is history.
Oh, Thalidomide is the devil for that sort of thing, since in the human body Thalidomide can undergo spontaneous transitioning between isomers, and you end up with a racemic mixture. So even if they _had_ the tech to detect that one isomer was fine, it would transition in the human body to be half not fine, and that's a problem.
I was looking for this comment! Fellow bioologist here. Thalidomide has two optical isomers, you may think of them as if they were your two hands. They are mirror images of each other, and there is no way for you to place them in the same orientation and overlap perfectly. These isomers receive the names of R and S. R-thalidomide is the effective and harmless medication we know today, S-thalidomide is the cause that this video exist. Pharmaceutical manufacturing is really, really tricky.
Oh wow that's super interesting, I normally wouldn't have any idea what you meant. But I happened on the "Periodic videos" explanation on the subject, they did an awesome video on these molecular orientations.
Sir Martyn Poliakoff is the absolute personification of "Science".
My understanding, from programs about cancers and tumours, c. 2000, is that Thalidomide interferes with blood flow to new cells. Thus newly growing tissues are starved of blood so cannot complete growth. A range of drugs (don't know which) were said to be based on that property.
@@azuzziken I was under the impression that Thalidomide was still absolutely prohibited for anybody who might possibly be getting pregnant?
Our Country has a long, horrible, habit of using humans as test subjects, without their permission. This type of thing is still happening, we just have yet to see the long term effects.
It's frankly criminal that I've never heard about this in my whole life until I stumbled upon this video. Excellent coverage.
It was recently claimed, again, that very few babies were affected by the drug. And those that were affected were mostly European children. But I remember seeing at least 2-3 kids in my metro NJ town born with Thalidomide birth defects. They were wheelchair-bound & cruelly referred to as "flipper babies". They had no limbs, or very little limb tissue - just hands & feet protruding from their torsos. I still remember these kids, 50 years later.
Yeah I can remember seeing quite a few kids who were affected by Thalidomide when I was growing up, I suspect many are now dead.
The whole thing was effectively covered up instead of those responsible being banged up in jail, so many peoples lives affected and that's not including all those miscarriages that passed under the radar.
The greed shown by some people is just incomprehensible to me, I mean I like money but the idea you are happy to profit from deforming/killing children in the womb is just beyond evil.
There was a lot of this drug sold by Canadian pharmacies and mailed to customers in the US.
@@colincampbell767 Before the age of social media the things you/we talk about would've been much harder to know about. But now that people around the world can recall stories & compare notes, it's very difficult for issues like thalidomide to go unnoticed. Or continue to be lied about by medical communities.
@@paulelephant9521 Well said, esp re people profiting from other's misery. Experimenting on pregnant women, of all beings, was absolutely ghastly. Doctors may have meant well but thorough long-term testing should've been done first. I'm certain there were researchers who demanded that it be done this way. They're probably long dead too.
@@monkeybusiness1999 Anti-social media will stamp a "misinformation" label on anything that goes against the official narrative. "Read here why XXX is perfectly safe for pregnant women"
I first heard about the Thalidomide scandal through a SBSK (Special Books by Special Kids - a channel that doesn't just focus on kids, he interviews people living with various conditions) interview with a gentleman whose development was affected by it.
Another good video topic for this series would be the Dalkon Shield, an IUD created in the 70s that led to a significant number of injuries (nasty infections, usually, and the conditions that follow) and deaths. It was because of this that the US FDA began requiring testing for medical devices - including, of course, IUDs. For how significant its impact was, I don't think most people know about it.
Love that guy/channel..
SBSK is amazing, he's incredible human being
I heard of it through SciShow and Ted-Ed
I first heard about it from Billy Joel.
Interesting. Have you heard about the recent discoveries regarding the contraceptive pill affecting women's mental health and preference in men?
Served 4 years of just an 8 year sentence for crimes against humanity?? I'd think that something as bad as 'crimes against humanity' would net someone at least a 25 year sentence.
One of my grandmother's sisters took thalidomide and her daughter was pretty severely deformed. I think my mom said she died around the age of 13 due to the deformities and how they interacted with her puberty causing heart defects and stuff.
I know someone who was affected by thalidomide, she may have deformed arms but she is a very sweet lady whom I respect greatly.
It is so sad glad she's making the best of life!
I went to school with a woman whose arms were like that due to thalidomide too. She was going into sculpture/art which was really cool.
@@PlainlyDifficult she certainly is
@@Nightman221k the lady I know is a really good horse rider, she thinks of herself as a jockey.
I've known a couple of people affected by it as well, they were young adults and teenagers by the time I'd met them but its a genuinely hard way to go through life.
There was so many that just died from it as well, something like about half just never survived either to term or the first year.
I have a friend (he's 62 now) whose mum took it fairly late in the window. He's pretty much nornal. a missing little toe and a squashed toe on the other foot, walks normal, even played sport to a decent standard, but as he says, there isn't a day that he doesn't bless the fact that his mum took it so late.
I found out this year that my uncle on my dad's side was a Thalidomide baby. He got lucky I suppose, as he was born with only one of his upper arms and the corresponding hand being deformed by the drug. I can't imagine he was one of the 17 or so cases confirmed in the USA, but that's still a very small pool of people. I learned of this whole thing from Call the Midwife, a BBC show, and I never thought I would be connected to people directly affected by it(my grandmother and my uncle at the very least).
Great to know the people and companies responsible were harshly punished so there could never be a medical scandal this size ever again...
Oh they weren't? Oh okay
Remember to take your medicine kids
The Jab has not been tested and young healthy sportsmen are dropping dead on the football pitch. You wait until the results come in, 20-30 years from now. If it’s not all covered up.
@@Woodman-Spare-that-tree they won't even bother covering it up
It'll just be the subject of a video like this in a few decades
I work in an industry that, while not pharma, is still subject to the FDA. I've gotten to meet quite a few of their folks over the years, and while I can't extrapolate to an entire department... I will say that these were some of the most intensely committed people I've ever met, period. The sort of people who, if they found a single loose thread, anything that seemed a little bit off, would follow it all the way to the end and then go over it again with a fine tooth comb. But as exhausting as it is (and kind of maddening, when you compile their data) I still can't help but come away from it in awe. When you realize how much of the medical industry is held together with duct tape you can't even really begrudge them. There are a lot of unsung Dr. Kelseys out there doing the grunt work. Hats off to them.
Thalidomide led to one of the first abortion-access cases in the USA in 1962, involving a local “Romper Room” host who had taken thalidomide brought into the USA from abroad. She ended up going to Sweden to obtain the procedure. The doctor told her that the fetus had only one arm and no legs. The deformities were such that the gender could not be identified. It wouldn’t have lived.
Jesus, that's bleak.
That's horrific. I've heard of other cases involving thalidomide that made it to full term, but devastatingly the babies were so deformed that they didn't live.
We associate thalidomide primarily with limb deformities because those were the kids that made it. I've heard that there were also all manner of other horrific deformities due to thalidomide that were so horrific & traumatic for those involved it rarely gets spoken of.
I expect the gagging order mentioned in this video also played a large part in those more extreme deformities going largely unmentioned.
Horrible countries force people deliver that fetus. Thr situation is bad enough. Delivering it and watching it die would break me.
@@runlarryrun77 it was recommended that my auntie "leave her son overnight on a bench and to God's will."
She was horrified that it was recommended moments after my cousin was born.
She said no thanks.
Often they would whip the baby away and say died, then leave it on the bench themselves. 'Thalidomide babies' was a very cruel era and in every aspect.
And had a stutter in her speech from that day on..
Possibly underlying, but I think my dad always felt those two things triggered the nervous reaction.
They give metoclopramide now. Aka Reglan and Maxalon.
It comes with a black box warning and not recommended to children under 10 years old due to affecting dopamine receptors, causing spasms, tics, adhd, neuro problems..
It was given to me during my last two pregnancies, via injection, for nauseating migraine..
My two youngest in their 20s now, it has taken me years to figure out why they have tourettes and add. They gave me another injection 3 years ago and my body hasn't stopped twitching since. Spasm and tics. .
My doctor told me it's tardive dyskinesia reaction, plus my body is mimicking tetanus, mine is the lock drawer and diarrhoea symptoms. It's crazy. It really is.
Makes me want to cry knowing that they are giving this medication to unborn foetus and developing dopamine receptors..
My muscles twitching like crazy right now..
If anybody else reads this, please remember the name of this drug and never take it when you're pregnant.
@@pixality7902 are you saying this in relation to attempting to abort a baby? Which is more horrible: attempting to kill what you had created because of your poor decision making or the fact that in your attempts that you child was horribly deformed that it would die after birth?
I knew about most of this, what I didn't know is that the trial was just ended like that and the victims barely received any compensation to this day. The children who survived these birth defects should be around 60 years old now. It's not too late to give them a decent financial compensation.
I love your new videos, keep them coming! In Holland this drug was called Softenon, and we had about 1000 babies born with deformities. I usually hate the calvinist ways dutch doctors tend to have when it comes to prescribing drugs ("pain is part of life! deal with it!"), but in this case I think it saved a lot of lives...!
Here in Brazil it's still used for treating hansen's. the packaging actually features a image of a thalidomide baby and says it's "prohibited for pregnant women or those who can get pregnant". although apparently there are still cases of children being born with the physical consequences of thalidomide use :(
Thalidomide, Metotrexate, Misoprostol and Roacutan have their own special prescription and are both classified as prohibited for pregnant
@@thomazmareli unfortunately not as much care is taken in every country
@@thomazmareli yup, i remember a while ago i had to take Roacutan and was warned about this
I remember reading something about why thalidomide became so deadly; there is some evidence that, while it was never great to begin with, later formulations may have reversed chirality (basically, the direction in which the molecules spin), and become far worse than the original formulation.
The way that thalidomide is used for cancer treatment is interesting. That tingling in the hands and feet is from the antiangiogenesis effect (basically, preventing blood vessels from forming), and there are treatments out there trying to use directed thalidomide on inoperable tumors to prevent them from continuing to grow and shrink them slowly.
It's not so much that the arrangement (or chirality) changed, it's that one enantiomer is completely safe, and the other causes birth defects...but they'll randomly flip back and forth, so there's no way to separate the two-your dose will *always* have both variants.
Thal is an important history lesson to not simply accept proclamations of safety from medical experts. Be skeptical. Weigh the benefits against the cost of taking any medication.
13:40 Imagine how many lives were saved and miseries avoided by this woman's actions. Incredible.
Your humor always makes these horrors a bit more easy to digest.
“Balls! (in a German accent)” sent me 😂😭
Absolutely horrific though, makes it a bit more understandable when people are hesitant with newer pharmaceuticals. We have more rigorous testing now, but the greed of corporations is just as intense.
I am a little concerned that some people will react poorly to the humor, if the subject is willfully criminal.
I hope the production team can continue walking that fine ( and funny!) line. And I also expect them to succeed at it.
Respectfully.
I found a lot of the humorous pseudo-German to be quite funny.
@@Ravenfellblade pseudo-German somehow has a very humorous look every time. The actual German was also just dry enough to be funny. Very fine line, but the video manages very well.
Zig hailing scientists had me laughing 😆
Not for the current jab. Only 40,000 were tested over 3mo follow up a process that normally takes at least 7 -10 years. Long Term Effects not known, but they're still pushing more boosts on as many of those that will comply.
In 1984 when I was in grade 8, there was a new grade 7 student (Dale) who was basically a normal head/torso with flipper-like appendages for arms/hands and legs/feet. He was a victim of Thalidomide. For two years my mum accused me of lying about the kid who could roll faster than we could run, until she saw him herself. I cannot remember his surname, but I remember him being a high-up public servant working in Canberra for disability advocacy in the early 2000's. $0.02
Out of curiosity, how did your Mom react when she saw Dale?
@@Gorette66 Ha! A classic mum reaction ... she denied ever doubting me.
@@MatthewHarrold 🤣
Unless he was about 24 it was not thalidomide. There are almost identical conditions caused by other reasons even hereditary ones.
There was a man who was believed to be victim of thalidomide the time matched as did the symptoms. He was worried that his kids would get it. The doctors rightfully told that there is no way the kid would get it Well his kid has similar deformities. It was not thalidomide.
@@okaro6595 You know ... after checking your comment for voracity ... thanks Okaro ... he must have had some other condition. Wow ... way to shake 38 years of my memory and rewrite my history. Cheers.
It's kind of ironic that a drug which causes limb deformities ended up being useful in treating leprosy
I have thoroughly enjoyed your other channels, and this first in your new series was fantastic! I was aware of Thalidomide and its effects on unborn children, but I had NO idea of the full story. What a horrible story it is! BUT, it's obvious that you put lot of time in the research, as it shows. And this is a story that- like so many other dark chapters of our humanity- deserves to be remembered and NOT forgotten. Thank you so much, and I do look forward to more in your new series!
We had a family friend who was a victim of Thalidomide. Her mother had severe morning sickness and was prescribed the new "wonder drug." Sandy was born and it was determined that she had many birth defects. Doctors told Sandy's mother that her birth defects were relatively mild. In the years that followed Sandy's ailments included almost complete deafness, legal blindness, a shortened right leg, curvature of the spine, no uterus, and a myriad of other illnesses. In all her physical trials, she was nothing but gracious, loving and kind. She became a pastor's wife, Church pianist, and my Sunday school teacher.
I saw a great documentary on Australian Story (I think) about a guy whose mother had taken Thalidomide, and as a result he didn't have any arms. Amazing to see him chopping carrots with his feet, although the doctors mentioned that he'll suffer eventually from overuse of his feet (using them as hands, as well as feet).
He became a bulldozer driver with a specially modified bulldozer. He could also drive a modified car, which led to something I found funny. He was in an accident (the other driver's fault) and had to go to hospital. I can just imagine the other driver visiting him in hospital and recoiling in horror "Oh my god, you lost both your arms in the accident!".
We saw a little bear one day years ago and one of its arms was really short and my mother goes oh look a thalidomide bear and I go what does that mean and she told me the story of thalidomide and it was just awful... I never forgot the name of that drug after that! I was born in 1960 I am grateful my mother never took it💛
I think this is a wonderful series. I hope you continue it
I recognized the horror of the story after just the first sentence "a woman is at a regular...". In Sweden the drug were marketed under the name Neurosedyn, and it still is a national horror memory up here in the North even after so many years.
I'm surprised as my Swedish mom and my family have a natural aversion to "taking meds". Mom refused even though here 4th. child was so large and she was terribly morning sick in 1959. My little brother ended up playing basketball for UC Long Beach. I can't imagine what might have happened to his athletic abilities had mom taken this crap.
@@Dwightstjohn-fo8ki wait, what was your point? You replied with some extremely tangential story, the only link to OP's comment being that your mother is Swedish? Had you somehow inferred that all Swedes were anti-medication weirdos? I'm so confused.
I'm a bit amazed he didn't mention Sweden as Neurosedyn was sold here long after it was removed in Germany meaning Sweden was disproportionately hit with the mutations caused by Thalidomide.
I would probably watch you list nutritional information on the back of food products, so yes please, more videos like this.
Thank you!
@@PlainlyDifficult Million subscriber special?????
@@PlainlyDifficult LOVE the new topics. Please consider a video about the Peanut Corporation of America. The company failed to apply for a health certificate, which would have triggered a visit of their Texas plant by state inspectors, so their plant wasn't inspected. Testimony described dust on beams, rodent infestation, a leaky roof that washed bird excrement into the processing area, and a ventilation system that blew over bodies of dead birds. Even after their own lab had verified that salmonella was present in their peanut products, they distributed the products anyway. One tainted batch of peanut butter killed nine and sickened more than 700, many of them children and the elderly in nursing homes. For once, justice was served--the president/CEO was prosecuted and sentenced to 28 years in prison. As far as I know, he's still there.
Im glad that you pointed out the distrust by the public. This case was probably the most influencual reason for alternative medicine gurus, homeopathic medicine and antivaxx. Its amazing and appaling that they got away with it.
Human greed never ceases to amaze me. Despite these big companies knowing they're actively putting others in harm all to make a buck.
it’s darker than mere greed
a recent version of medicine and pregnancy not mixing was the prescribing of Accutane, a drug used to treat acne. I worked as a nurse at a pediatrician office and we had a patient with Accutane embryopathy. All of the medical care this kid received was basically focused on keeping him alive. So heartbreaking.
I mean you are asked if you are pregnant when possibly being described a new drug plus doctors take into drug interactions(I know because i take like 4 or 5 medications) and my dad takes 2 medications so I am familiar with those things, though please no needles if you need to check let me pee in a hat I much rather do that than those terrifying and painful needles.
@@macaylacayton2915 it wasn’t prescribed as a new drug. The mom had been taking it and was unaware she was pregnant.
@@treehuggingbuddhist how are you ever UNAWARE that you are fucking pregnant?!
@@treehuggingbuddhist Might want to clarify that in your original comment. Stating "a recent version of medicine and pregnancy not mixing was the prescribing of Accutane" makes it possible to interpret as something a Dr. prescribed during pregnancy.
This just confirms the importance of always checking with pregnancy tests regularly, especially if you are ever on prescription drugs while being sexually active. So sad.
@@treehuggingbuddhist That poor mom! Poor baby! I took Accutane after I had my 2 kids, then had a *hysterectomy.* Even then, I had to take a pregnancy test, plus sign a legal document relieving the doctor's responsibility.
Born in 57, near miss for me. My Mum turned it down as far as I was told. I did come across a few kids in the 60s that bore the horrors of what this drug could do. Yes this new series is worthy of your talents. Keep up the great work.
My aunt was a thalidomide baby. She had no arms, not even nubs, and one of her legs stopped at the knee with a normal foot. When I was a young child she lived in the other side of a duplex with my family and my mother helped her out around the house. She trained dogs and drove an adapted van. We had a house fire in '99 and I haven't seen her since but I know she and her dogs all got out of the house safely. I miss her
Love that you’re branching out - even into music! - I was worried what may happen when you worked through all or most of the nuclear incidents (they’re all hella interesting, there’s just really only so much and many incidents to cover)
Keep on trucking, man. You’re going places.
I first heard about this drug from the show “call the midwife” on Netflix, it’s a fictional show but it does a decent job of covering this topic, definitely worth watching! The woman named Frances Oldham Kelsey played the most important role in keeping thalidomide out of America, without her intuition and brilliance I’m sure there would’ve been many more cases here in this country! She was a badass and deserves mad props! ✌🏻
hqq n li’n
BBC programme based loosley on a midwifes memoirs
But, if you don't trust in a new vax and fear to be a victim of greed of big farm, they call you a madman... And in this case not only greed, but political interests are mixed.
See what happens when you put women in charge? Stonks go down! /S
shill
My father was a GP at the time and had refused to prescribe the drug on general grounds. I was a medical student and remember the paediatrician discussing birth defects with us. The idea of damage to the foetus was fairly novel, with German Measles being the chief cause of concern. This would have been in '62 and I also remember him showing us a slide of a child with phocomelia ie limb defects, which was shocking to us, but it took a while for news of the scandal to become widely known. I was aware of the Australian and US stories but not of the Nazi connections and the court failure, for which I am very grateful.
"You ain't seen nothing yet"
-Bachman-Turner Overdrive
I grew up in the early 1970's, and the derogatory word 'flid" was used by pretty much everyone to refer to someone behaving stupidly, or 'spac-head' and so on.... hardly words that would be tolerated these days. Thalidomide was a condition that most young people were totally ignorant about, however my Baby Boomer parents knew all too well how awful it really was. Had no clue the origin of the drug was actually called Thalidomide, and the historical ties to Germany "cough cough" don't mention the N word, that blew my mind!! Definitely earned yourself a new subscriber mate. Nicely done 💯
I really like the Call The Midwives display of this, showing how maorning sickness affected a woman who passed out (dehydration from hyperemesis) and her toddler was found wandering the streets. Drs tend to discount purely 'female' complaints. Thalidomide was a sad chapter.
Love that series as a nurse myself. Very well done in their address of these issues
@@KarinaMilne and many other topics as well!
That story arc was so chilling, especially as I had hyperemesis during my pregnancy and watched it around that time. They handled it so beautifully.
Doctors are like that with everyone. Female narcissist think everything is about them
That scene stuck out for me when I read a recent article claiming the teratogenic agent in thalidomide has been isolated. The article's conclusion was that in all these decades since, thalidomide still stands as possibly the only medical intervention for hyperemesis in pregnancy. If we could make it safe for pregnancy then we could treat this devastating issue with more than just trying to keep the pregnant person alive.
My mother took thalidomide in 1962 and my brother was born full term in March 1963 and lived only a few hours because his heart had not fully developed. I was born in 1966 and she did not take the drug while carrying me or my other siblings. So there's a 7-year gap between me and my sister who was born in 1959. We all lived in California, USA.
Wow, that must have been a terrible experience for your mother, losing a child is awful but knowing it may have been because of a drug you were prescribed is even worse, and then the worry when she was pregnant with you.
The people who ran Chemie Grunenthal should have served time in jail, the way the victims of this scandal were treated by both the government and CG was absolutely disgusting, I can't believe they were allowed to essentially get away with this with no repercussions, vile men.
How did your mother come to take the drug, if she was living in the USA, where it was not allowed? Not saying you're lying or anything, just stood out to me.
@@mnxs Excellent point. I was told about the birth defect being due to thalidomide when I was young. My parents are both deceased now, so I can't ask them, and my older siblings are now not sure. Thanks for pointing this out because I was starting to question the memory. Is it possible there was another drug available at that time in the USA that could have caused birth defects? I believe my mother may have smoked at that time, but not while carrying me. Perhaps my brother's birth defect was just bad luck.
@@paulaswaim8434 To be fair, it *is* possible that it was thalidomide. It's just very unlikely. You see, there *was* a drug trial of the stuff around that time and, while I believe it was halted early, damage had been done. To quote the Wikipedia article on the Thalidomide scandal:
*Although thalidomide was not approved for sale in the United States at the time, over 2.5 million tablets had been distributed to over 1,000 physicians during a clinical testing programme. It is estimated that nearly 20,000 patients, several hundred of whom were pregnant women, were given the drug to help alleviate morning sickness or as a sedative, and at least 17 children were consequently born in the United States with thalidomide-associated deformities. While pregnant, children's television host Sherri Finkbine took thalidomide that her husband had purchased over-the-counter in Europe. When she learned that thalidomide was causing fetal deformities she wanted to abort her pregnancy, but the laws of Arizona allowed abortion only if the mother's life was in danger. Finkbine traveled to Sweden to have the abortion. Thalidomide was found to have deformed the fetus.*
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thalidomide_scandal
I don't know if it could have been anything else, either, drugs or otherwise (I'm hardly an expert) - I do know that there was little regulatory oversight at the time (which was what caused the scandal to begin with, and which was also soon fixed in the aftermath) - and that there was a lot of toxic shit (pardon my language) that was being thrown carelessly out and around in those decades. For instance, the EPA wasn't created until the early 70's, if I remember correctly. Point being, there were more opportunities for people to inadvertently consume things they *really* never should.
But, it's also entirely possible (and perhaps most likely, IMHO) that it was just, as you say, bad luck. Those things just happen for no good reason sometimes.
wonderful!!! great info, tells a compelling story, and is narrated in a sincere empathetic tone. great job with the visuals, v tasteful by not saturating it with gruesome pictures of the kids. love the fire and sticky note cuz yr keeping it real. keep up the good work!
I remember visiting Chailey Heritage years ago and it was both heartbreaking to see the effects of this drug and heartening to see how the children were coping so well with these devastating effects. I also met several of the children when they used to visit a store I worked in Haywards Heath. CIBA who first synthesised thalidomide also with ongoing research synthesised Glutethimide a drug (hypnotic) not too dissimilar to thalidomide and found great relief when they ascertained that this drug had no ill effects when used during pregnancy. Thalidomide is still a valuable drug when used for certain specific conditions.
I'm interested in more of these videos! You've found a way to branch out that fits your channel themes quite well. Nice job!
Thank you for the positive comment!!
Considering the damages and number of deaths caused by people's distrust in medical science, the management should be trialed for crime against humanity.
You're absolutely incredible. This is an unbelievably difficult song to play and you not only did it, bur truly made it your own in the best way. You even managed to include the glitches! Unbelievable. Im just in shock
Honestly this video made me sick to my stomach. We need more of these videos though. Our grandparents said never forget but it seems everyday there are masses of people who are totally opposed to this sentiment.
(Biggest medical disaster acknowledged so far)
Very true
@@PlainlyDifficult Yeah it's possible that at this point, the way that US doctors prescribe opioids and the consequences of that have done more damage than Contergan did.
@@GeoStreber and other medical innovations that will get you banned for disparaging.
@@GeoStreber But it's not like we don't know that opioids are addictive....
@@DynamicSeq We know, and so do the doctors who prescribe it
Just want to say thank you for making these videos, I work nights alone and I hear your voice more than anyone else’s tbh. I like the new series, I think you’ll do a great job just as you do on all your other videos!
Thank you! I really appreciate it
what do you do? I need that job lmao
Very well narrated, John. I'll certainly look further into your channel, and I wish you success for the future.
Spending my life slowly learning the meanings of the lyrics to "We Didn't Start the Fire." Lore Unlocked: "Children of Thalidomide".
My organic chemistry professor (he wrote the book so I think he knew his chemistry) said that the first company that made thalidomide used one set of chemical reactions that only produced one stereoisomer, which was not a mutagen. Stereoisomers are molecules that are like your hands - they are mirror images but not superimposable. Sometimes they react differently, especially biological molecules. All sugars we consume are right-handed, for example. Left-handed sugars still taste sweet but you can't digest them. A second set of reactions was used to produce thalidomide, but this set of reactions produced a mixture of the two stereoisomers. The new stereoisomer turned out to be the cause of the severe mutations.
What book was this?
"Would you like to know more?"
"Yes."
this is also explained in breaking bad XD i just watched it and now this vid was showing on my recommended. Coincedence
We discussed this case in my organic chemistry class as well. The sad part is why they didn't filter out the other isomer: cost.
That is only partly true. Both enantiomers are changed to the other form inside the human body. Even when pill only contains onlythe (good) (R)-enantiomer, the (s)-enantiomer is formed inside the body.
In Sweden it was made by Astra and had the name Neurosedyn. To this day we have people who are called Neurosedynbarn (children of Neurosedyn.
That's sad, such a terrible application of the drug
Epilepsy drugs are catching up with Thalidomide. Women who take sodium valproate when pregnant are at much higher risk of giving birth to babies with serious impairments including spina bifida. Other drugs to control seizures aren't good either but sodium valproate is the worst. This has been known about for years but many women are still not being warned about the serious risks.