Thalidomide

drug was called thalidomide. It was originally created in Germany, and was used to help people go to sleep, and also helped relieve pregnant women from the pain of morning sickness. The drug was used worldwide. Unfortunately, the people who took thalidomide had no idea how it would affect the their offsprings. What would be called Thalidomide babies were born. These babies were born with disabilities such as no limbs, loss of hearing, or loss of sight. Today there are over 5,000 thalidomide survivors fighting to end all use of this terrible drug (Dove, 2011). Starting in 1954, thalidomide had a patent for 20 years, labeled as Contergan (Mandal, 2015). It…

Thalidomide is used as a drug to treat several illnesses [3]. Its molecular formula is C13H10N2O4 [1] and IUPAC name is 2-(2,6-dioxopiperidin-3-yl)isoindole-1,3-dione [1]. Thalidomide contains a benzene and two rings, the left ring is believed to contain teratogenic effects and the right ring is responsible for hypnotic properties as it resembles the structure of similar drugs [9]. To continue, a small difference in R+ to the S- conformation changes thalidomide’s toxicity [9]. The former…

Grunenthal Group’s CRO finally issued a formal apology fifty years after releasing a medicine, Thalidomide, that crippled and killed over ten thousand babies on August, 31, 2012 (“Thalidomide Apology 50 years Later”). This terrible tragedy is known as the Thalidomide Tragedy, a tragedy that could have been avoided had Grunenthal simply valued a child’s life more than money. The Thalidomide tragedy seemingly started with good intentions, but resulted in a medical scandal that has scarred…

One might wake up one morning experiencing morning sickness. She believes it is a common problem while being pregnant. She goes to get the medication Thalidomide from the medicine cabinet, not thinking anything about it. But what the drug company did not tell you was if you are a pregnant woman and you take the medication Thalidomide, your baby may experience some severe problems. The drug Thalidomide was produced during the 1950s through the 1960s. It was used for women who was experiencing…

Thalidomide – A Chemical Disaster Introduction Throughout history there has been many chemical disasters including one that was caused by a drug named thalidomide. Thalidomide was a drug used in the 1950’s for the global issue of morning sickness in pregnant women and insomnia. At the time it was considered a “Wonder Drug” (DermNet NZ, 2013). This was due to the fact that it was an over-the-counter pharmaceutical that was considered completely safe. The drug was also considered as a…

chemical compound alpha-phthalimido glutarimide (thalidomide) was first synthesized by Ciba in 1952 but found to be ineffective in the animal models tested and was ultimately discarded. Then in 1957, the German manufacturer Chemie Grunenethal in West Germany bought the patent for the chemical, which contained the active pharmaceutical drug substance thalidomide. The initial indication of the novel medication was for use as an anticonvulsant but early studies suggested that it was not effective…

Thalidomide was patented by a German Pharmaceutical company, Grunenthal, in 1954. Originally, the company marketed the drug as an over-the-counter sedative to treat anxiety and sleeplessness; however, beginning in 1957, the drug was primarily used to alleviate nausea or morning sickness during pregnancy. Thousands of pregnant women, in over 45 countries, were prescribed Thalidomide from 1957-1962. It was not known until 1961 that the drug had serious side effects and was directly associated to…

Thalidomide, also known as α – N(phthalimido) glutarimide , was first developed in 1954 by a German pharmaceutical company called Grünenthal in Stolberg. In 1957, under the brand name Contergan , it was marketed as a sedative, tranquiliser and antiemetic that was found to be effective when prescribed to pregnant women to help combat the many symptoms associated with morning sickness. Chemically similar to barbituates, the drug became a popular sedative and by the following year, although it…

The Children of the Thalidomide “The final forming of a person's character lies in their own hands.” -Anne Frank What I get from this quote is it's not about what you look like it's about what is on the inside of you. Sometimes you can't help what you look like just like the children of the thalidomide. This morning medicine has affected such a great amount of families from suffering from sadness and suffering from death. This “killer” was founded in German, affected so many infants and has…

Chemie Grünenthal synthesized drug called Thalidomide, it was introduced as an effective sedative used to treat the symptoms of morning sickness in pregnant women. It was soon discovered that Thalidomide was in fact a potent teratogen* that could cause dysmelia, peripheral neuropathy and in some cases, premature termination of pregnancy; it was because of these reasons that thalidomide was removed from the world’s pharmacy shelfs in the early 1960’s. Today, almost 62 years after its original…