The Medical Disaster Associated With Thalidomide Administration

Humans are indeed fallible and there should be a check system in place when administering any medication, particularly to at risk patients such as newborns.

Thalidomide: Thalidomide is an anti-angiogenic drug which helps to limit the immune system response and function during an FOP

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

With an increase in articles discussing external effects that can be avoided to help protect the fetus will help several mothers increase the chance of having a healthier child. Websites such as the CDC in collaboration with other websites can lead to mothers that are properly informed of possible defects that can occur with their child. For a drug to receive pregnancy category research is required. However to find subjects willing to risk their child having a defect to help categories a drug is limited. There are instances where some women may not even be aware that they are pregnant. They may be on an opioid regimen and be total unaware of the damage it could cause their unborn fetus. Once realized by the physician, the mother should be tapered off and place on a pregnancy appropriate therapy of either Methadone or Buprenorphine. There are some mothers that may be addicted to the opioid therapy prior to pregnancy. These mothers require a switch of therapy and behavioral therapy to ensure safety of both the mother and child. Some mothers might be opioid naïve till pregnancy. They may need opioid therapy due them needing surgical procedure (car accident, emergency surgeries), infection, injuries or chronic diseases (such as nephropathy).

The same drug that caused thousands of birth defects is now being utilised as a way to help mouth sores in AIDs patients as well as a medicine to help with pancreatic cancer and other diseases (Feller, 2016). In the 1950’s and 60’s thalidomide was a drug used as a sedative that quickly became primarily for pregnant women with bad morning sickness. However, there were soon many birth defects that came from the mothers who were using thalidomide while pregnant (Winerip, 2013). Instead of giving birth to healthy babies, children were being born without ears or with flippers replacing their arms. The connection between thalidomide and the birth defects were not made right away causing the problem to be widespread. Thalidomide was and still is

Until recently, very little drug testing was done to women in childbearing years (Burchum & Rosenthal, 2016). This is due in part to the drug, thalidomide, women took to prevent early miscarriages. The drug caused 100,000 birth defects worldwide (FDA, 2001). Unfortunately in 1977, the FDA took this concern to the extreme and barred all women of childbearing age from phase 1 and phase 2 trials even if the woman was not pregnant (Burchum & Rosenthal, 2016). Because of the limited testing on women there was no way to know how women would respond to most drugs. There was no way to know if the drugs would have the same benefits or adverse effects as they did in men. We had no idea how the drug would be affected by the menstrual cycle. (Burchum & Rosenthal, 2016).

Thalidomide is a drug that was invented in Germany in the 1950’s. It was originally intended to treat respiratory infections but during testing, it was noted that the drug worked to relieve morning sickness for pregnant women. This new reason allowed the drug to be prescribed to many new patients all over the world. Eventually Thalidomide was discovered to be causing birth defects in all of the pregnant women that were taking it. It caused the fetus to not develop correctly by causing limbs of the body or ears to develop improperly or not develop at all. It also cause spinal cord and digestive system defects as well as problems to the heart and kidneys. Thalidomide stopped being prescribed but not before many children and families were affected worldwide who had taken the drug. It took a couple of years before other countries caught up to realize that thalidomide was causing the birth defects and removed from being an over the counter drug in many countries. It wasn’t until 1961 that it was completely removed after it was confirmed that it was causing birth defects. More than 10000 babies were born with defects and approximately killed 2000 before birth, but fewer than 100 were born here in the U.S.

Thalidomide, a dangerous and extremely harmful teratogen, is one that has harmed children all over the world. Despite the fact that the US banned the chemical before it could be too widely distributed, it still affected thousands of families here that continue to live with the consequences today. Although Thalidomide is still used to successfully treat a variety of diseases and disorders, its history of unethical use resulting in the harm of thousands of fetuses should not be forgotten.

Prenatally I was exposed to Bendectin, a pharmaceutical that was prescribed to my mother for morning sickness and I wonder now, if that’s what lead to my hip and heart issues since Bendectin has been found to cause congenital birth defects (Slaughter et. Al., 2014). I was diagnosed with developmental hip dysplasia, after a 5K race and a patent foramen ovale after having issues

In 1952, a drug named K17 was being developed in post-war Switzerland by drug company Ciba. Although intended for animals, it showed no effects on animals. This drug would be later developed by Chemie Grunenthal and be marketed as thalidomide, a mild sedative (alpha-phthalimido-glutarimide). Thalidomide would later go on to be primarily responsible for the deformity (Phocomelia) of tens of thousands of children across the world. The aim of this study is to highlight the medical disaster associated with thalidomide administration to pregnant women, the steps taken to mitigate them and the lessons learnt from the problems.

The use of Thalidomide by pregnant women caused their babies to develop severe abnormalities. These babies were born with characteristic limb defects and 40% of them died within a year of

Thalidomide was a drug made to treat many different health problems and is now known as one of the worst teratogens in history. Thalidomide is most well-known to help with morning sickness in pregnant women, but that’s not what its original purpose was. The original purpose of thalidomide was to use for respiratory problems. Another use of thalidomide that was practiced was to “provide a safe sound sleep” (Thalidomide Victims Association of Canada, n.d.). Overall thalidomide was used as a sedative and was a wonder drug, because it helped many problems. The problems that thalidomide caused were on a global scale. Thalidomide was an over- the- counter drug for multiple countries across the world. In most countries thalidomide was prescribed by a doctor in a certain dose. Some countries that used Thalidomide include Canada, Germany, UK, and Brazil. Including these, Thalidomide was used in about 30 other countries, and effected them on different scales. The problems that thalidomide was originally intended to fix, could have been fixed many other, safer ways. For morning sickness, there are hundreds of safe home remedies, instead of taking Thalidomide. For respiratory problems, you can take an inhaler, or have an oxygen mask. Also, for sleeping problems, there are multiple home remedies. You can take melatonin, which relaxes you, and can naturally be found in the body. A German pharmaceutical company, Grunenthal, was the first to start

Why it is important in our society to know what teratogen is, and some ways to prevent this birth defect in our society. Teratogen is a agent that disturbs the development of an embryo. Well, what exactly causes these disturbances in the embryo? By taking medicine during pregnancy, medicine prescribe to new mothers can cause abnormality in pregnancy. Although many women take medications during pregnancy, the medicine prescribe can be harmful. A example may be a woman during pregnancy comes across morning sickness; therefore, she may ask her doctor to prescribe medicine to treat her morning sickness. A common medicine to take during the 60's was thalidomide. However, over the years researchers found that thalidomide caused partial absence

The mechanism of thalidomide was recently discovered. Previously, it was known that the cereblon, a cellular protein, played a role in the function of molecules like thalidomide. However, the specifics were not known. Thalidomide is an immunomodulatory drug(IMiDs), it modifies the body’s immune response. Cereblon plays a role in the function of these. Cereblon usually binds to proteins CD147 and MCT1. These proteins play a role in blood building and immune cells. They promote growth, metabolism, and the formation of new blood vessels. The two proteins always occur as a pair and they each need the cereblon to find their other half and become activated. The CD147 and the MCT1 binds to the cereblon to promote stability and development. This stimulates

Due to the extensive physiological changes that occur during pregnancy, the addition of medication to the biological processes can cause damage or alterations known as teratogenic effects. A teratogen is a broad definition for an external substance causing permanent modification to a developing fetus in ways such as the altering of growth and the structure and functions of developing organs. (Cunningham, MacDonald, & Gant, 1993). Whilst there are many teratogens known to medical professionals, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs or NSAID’s have recently been the focus of medical research as they could cover a broad range of these teratogens. When ingested, NSAID’s transfer through the placenta and have the ability to cause permanent damage to the fetus. (Antonucci et al., 2012). NSAID’s cause the cessation of prostaglandin production through inhibiting an enzyme known as Cyclo-Oxygenase (COX-2), (Vane, Botting,. 1998). However, early on in pregnancies, NSAID’s are associated with risks of mutations and abortion and when consumed in critical periods in the last trimester can contribute to amniotic