Thalidomide Disaster – How did it happen? Thalidomide, heralded as a wonder drug when it was first released into the market, was meant to alleviate morning sickness, lessen the effects of tumours in cancer patients and ease treatment of Leprosy and HIV/AIDS. Sounds great, doesn’t it? However, when the drug was released, it caused horrible birth defects to numerous babies, mainly in Continental Europe and affected many families. This was all caused by a slight difference in Chemical structure called Optical Isomerism. What is that, I hear you ask? Well, you’ve come to the right place as in this article I will be explaining what an Optical Isomer is, how it works, what effect it has and why it caused the disaster in the late 50s and early 60s. Isomerism What is an isomer? When two compounds have the same molecular formula, but a difference in the …show more content…
They occur in molecules that contain a Carbon atom attached four different atoms, or groups. The Carbon atom with four different groups bonded to it is said to be chiral and in most cases, an Optical Isomer possesses a chiral centre – these centres are important! A chiral centre, if in a molecule’s structure, means that two mirror-image arrangements are possible in space. Of these arrangements, neither can be placed over the top of each other and look the same, much like a right hand and left hand cannot. This causes the “non-superimposable” bit in the definition above. One way to identify a difference in an optical isomer is that, despite being chemically identical, they rotate plane polarised light in different directions depending on whether it is a ‘right hand’ or ‘left hand’ optical isomer. There are only ever two optical isomers formed for each chiral Carbon and if there are two in a molecule, then there will be two pairs of Optical
Belladonna alkaloids is used to treat irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) and intestinal inflammation in combination with other medications. IBS is an invasive gastrointestinal functional bowel disorder, characterized by a recurrent crampy diarrhea and abdominal pain. Belladonna works by decreasing motion of muscles in the intestine and stomach providing them with a mild sedation
In general, with every pregnancy there is a 3-5% chance of having a baby with a birth defect. If a woman takes Thalidomide during her first trimester of pregnancy, the chance of her giving birth to a child with a birth defect increased to a 20%+ chance and the fetal and infant death rate is estimated to be 40% or more due to severe birth defects. (Thalidomide Side Effects on Babies). A portion of the children who suffer from birth defects caused by Thalidomide also suffer from developmental disabilities such as autism. Thalidomide victim survivors still suffer from these symptoms today. How does Thalidomide create all of these issues? The answer is science. The placenta is a very important organ that develops in the womb during pregnancy. The placenta nourishes the baby through through the umbilical cord and gets rid of all waste. The placenta is the first line of defense for the baby. It is a barrier that many harmful substances do not have the ability to cross. Before a pharmaceutical is offered to
The case is Mrs. Finkbine wants an abortion after finding out her baby may be deformed from her uses of a tranquilizer containing thalidomide. This drug mostly caused babies to be born without ears, arms, legs or they were severely deformed limbs, although it could also affect other organs such as the brain. For the most part, they were physical deformities that didn’t affect the mental capacity of the babies. The dilemma is whether or not it is ethical to have an abortion just because there is a chance the baby may be deformed, especially since the law at the time in her area was that abortions could only be done if the mother’s life was in danger. I support Sherri Finkbine’s decision to have an abortion, even if the baby just had physical deformities, it would negatively affect the child’s quality of life, which agrees with the principle of greatest happiness.
A structural isomer is an isomer that split again and again into different number of isomers very quickly (varies it structure
Methaqualone, is also referred to as Disco Biscuits, Down And Dirties, Jekyll-and-Hyde, Joe Fridays, Lemmon 714, Lemons, Lennon's, Lovers, Ludes, Mandies, Mandrake, Q, Qua, Quack, Quad, Quaaludes, Soaper, Supper, Vitamin Q, The Love Drug, Wallbangers, Whore Pills, and Sopor. This list of street names for the drug goes on and on.
Attached to your discharge papers you will find a list of the medications that the doctor wants you to take at home. The prescriptions have already been sent to your pharmacy and the pharmacy will deliver them all to your home this afternoon after 4:00 PM. I will go over each of your medications with you.
“More than 300 lawsuits are pending against the manufacturer claiming damages for deformed babies born to mothers who took the drug” (Brody). This made my grandma believe Julie’s birth defect had been caused by the drug she was taking, which was not the case. At this time they thought Julie obtained Poland Syndrome because of the pill (Sieckhaus). Recently, it has been shown that Bendectin is not the reason for these birth defects. “The government estimates 1 in 33 babies are born with birth defects regardless of medication use during pregnancy, and studies eventually concluded that Bendectin didn't increase that baseline risk… it's important to recognize that when a drug is widely used in pregnancy, some babies will be born with birth defects that are a coincidence” (Siron).
Please list the patients Priority Population (Pregnant Women, Pregnant Women with Children, IV Drug User, Veteran, and Literally Homeless (Living in the woods) :
In the late 1950s, the Thalidomide drug was used in Europe to treat morning sickness in pregnant women among other things. This study involved manufacturing company providing samples of this drug to physicians and compensating them to study the benefits and results of this drug. Although allegedly this drug did not cause any harm to the mother the fetus suffered severe damage as a result. There were thousands of children born with
In 1957, one of the worst chemical drugs was put on the market to result in a major tragedy in the Chemical field. This drug was Thalidomide. Thalidomide is a mutagen, studied in toxicology, in which it causes damage to the chemical material within an embryo when in development. This drug was created in West Germany by a pharmaceutical company, Chemie Grünenthal (Recognition of Thalidomide Defects, n.d.). During this time when Thalidomide was introduced to the market, it was classified as safe to use. This drug was originally prescribed to pregnant women to prevent morning sickness, insomnia, anxiety and upset stomachs (Breaking News., n.d.). However, it was later determined that this drug caused
Nowadays, the drug is only used for advanced cancers and severe complications of leprosy. Also, due to the German measles (Rubella) epidemic in the United States in 1962, thousands of children were born with birth defects. Sometimes, the pregnant women were also affected by these high risk pregnancies. However, these women could not seek abortions due to the strict bans. (Supreme Court Drama, wikipedia.org, time.com)
“America's public enemy number one in the united states is drug abuse.” (Nixon) Heroin struck the U.S in the late 1960s, causing the U.S. to spend billions , shockingly the majority of addicts being white. Statistics show that 4 in 5 heroin user started off my misusing prescription drugs. Thousands in the U.S began by taking prescription drugs, such as painkillers containing opium. America was fiercely losing against the war on drugs and the harsh laws were seem to be a mistake. New York city was the first to struggle in the late 1960s with crime and drug addiction. Almost 200 people died due to heroin overdose, alone in 1970. The state tried numerous approaches, but the crime continued. Therefore, in 1971 president Richard Nixon declared war
America is making profit out of prescription drugs, being the wealthiest country, people in America should not live in fear that they would go bankrupt or die if they cannot afford the drugs. Drug companies need to stop being greedy, selfish, and uncaring. These drugs are expensive, however, many Americans cannot afford these prices. The increasing cost of prescription drugs in the United States has become a source of concern for million of patients. They are taking advantage of innocent elders, consumers are unable to purchase prescription drugs, and the pharmaceutical industry is contributing to the high price of prescription drugs. This issue is important to me because I am planning to go into the pharmaceutical industry. I want people to
When taken in the first trimester thalidomide prevented the proper growth of the fetus, and resulting in a birth defect in thousands of children around the world. When taken in first world countries between day 20 to 36 of fertilization. The child or children would be born with limb and other birth defects. During the 1950s and 1960s the children were known as Thalidomide babies. The damage or the drug, which manifested itself in the form of absence or severe deformation of the extremities ( arms, legs, hands and feet) and sometimes damage to the eyes, ears and internal organs. One pill during the first three to four months is enough to cause these birth defects.
Thalidomide interfered with embryonic and fetal development in ways not observed in rodent tests. The rodent models failed as a model for this drug. With this discovery, it ignited the debate about the “proper use of cross-species testing during drug development.” (Tantibanchachai, & Yang, 2014). After the initial discovery of Thalidomide, they began to study the effects of it as teratogens and to see how they could have missed this. “In 1962 a study titled "Thalidomide and Congenital Abnormalities," by Victor Knapp, George Christie, and Mary Seller, looked at the teratogenic effects of Thalidomide on rats, mice, and rabbits” (Tantibanchachai, & Yang, 2014). They began to use a wide variety of animals in their experiments and still found the same results, no deformities in the offspring of these animals after