Kevin Donnellon was born but the hospital authorities did not take him to his mother for two days. The mother delivered her speech to the BBC that all the mothers in the ward could see her baby. But she didn't see her child, so she asked the nurse why she was doing this. The nurse replied, ”You can see your baby tomorrow, his health is not well.”
The next day she was taken in a wheelchair to the side of the Kevin’s small bed. While leaving, the nurse told Kevin's mother that your baby's hands and feet are little bit small. Naturally, he thought nothing serious. But after a moment when she uncovered the blanket, that moment the mother got the biggest shock of her life.
At that time, about 10,000 children were born with disabilities like Kevin. Though 10,000 babies were born but by official record, 1 lakh 23 thousand babies died before or during birth all over the world because of only one drug 'Thalidomide.'
Thalidomide causes a wide range of birth abnormalities, one of the most common being phocomelia, which refers to having missing or shortened limbs. The drug can cause a baby’s hands and feet to be differently formed or rudimentary. Thalidomide also affects the development of organs, including the brain, the eyes, and the auditory system. It also cause severe congenital abnormality. According to many scientist, “Thalidomide tragedy is the biggest man made medical disaster ever.”
Thalidomide was first developed as a tranquilizer by swiss pharmaceutical company Ciba in 1953. In 1954, Ciba abandoned the product and it was acquired by German pharmaceutical company Chemie Grunenthal. In Germany, thalidomide was licensed for without prescription, over-the-counter sale in 1956 and they marketed under the trade name Contergan.
Initially marketed as Contergan, thalidomide was prescribed as a hypnotic, sedative which able to produce deep sleep without risk of dependency. The drug became popular for its antiemetic effect in pregnant women with morning sickness. Thalidomide was marketed and sold extensively in Europe, Australia, and in some South American countries, as a treatment for pregnancy-related morning sickness.
One country that did not approve thalidomide for marketing and distribution was the USA, where it was rejected by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Frances Oldham Kelsey, a pharmacologist with the Food & Drug Administration, helped prevent a generation of children born with congenital deformities in the United States. In 1962, President John F. Kennedy honored Kelsey for her work blocking the marketing of thalidomide. Nevertheless, 17 babies in USA born with birth abnormalities.
In Germany, thalidomide quickly become a top selling drug and estimated 14.6 tons has sold in 1960. Chemie Grunenthal head licence to market thalidomide in 46 countries throughout the world under at least 37 brand name. The drug was introduced into the UK in 1958 as a sedative, and used as a treatment for morning sickness in pregnant women in the late 1950s and early 1960s. It was primarily prescribed by doctors in the UK mainly under the brand name Distaval and it was hailed at first as a wonder drug.
Unfortunately the drug turned into a curse.
By the late 1950s, babies were starting to born with missing or shortened limbs. Doctors expect to see a small level of birth defects, but the numbers were much higher than normal. Investigations began to try to find the cause. Dr William McBride, an Australian doctor, was one of the first doctors who found that thalidomide caused birth defects; he wrote a letter which was published in The Lancet in 1961 outlining a probable link between thalidomide and birth defects.
In that letter, he highlighted his observations of the number of severe congenital abnormalities in babies whose mothers were taking Distaval (thalidomide) during their pregnancy. Around the same time, links between thalidomide and birth defects were being made by Widukind Lenz, a German Paediatrician. In 1961, he was the first to report thalidomide’s teratogenic effects directly to German authorities.
Lenz suspected the influx of birth defects in German hospitals was correlated with pregnant mothers taking the thalidomide drug. His evidence was strong enough for the German government to remove thalidomide from the German pharmaceutical market on November,26 1961 ; more than 5 years after the drug became available.
By 1962, thalidomide was banned in most countries where it had been sold. But it was too late. Thalidomide alter human embryo development if a pregnant person takes it 20-37 days after conceiving. One of the most common being phocomelia as well as thalidomide affects the development of organ including the brain, the eyes or ears. The first known victim of thalidomide was a girl born with no ears on Christmas Day in 1956- a daughter of a Grünenthal employee.
This article was published in the Galen Gazette, June 2024, Issue No. 02. The author, Dipu Chakraborty, is a eighth semester pharmacy student at Comilla University.
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