The Shadow of the Thalidomide Tragedy | Retro Report | The New York Times
In the 1950s, thalidomide cut a wide swath of destruction across the world, leaving behind thousands of deformed infants, but that was only the beginning of the story.
Read the story here: nyti.ms/18Pff5n
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The Shadow of the Thalidomide Tragedy | Retro Report | The New York Times
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I was born 1961. My mother, a Registered Nurse, was bleeding and close to miscarrying me. Her doctor gave her a choice....bed rest or "a new drug called Thalidomide". Thank God she chose bed rest.
Oh thank god.
no thank your mother
That was such a coin flip you dodged there
@caramellove Shut up
@caramellove why are they triggered atheists?
I can't imagine having your kid being born deformed and then the company responsible saying it's from a botched home abortion.
It’s unreal.
But plandemic vax is worse
@@shewolfee4247 plandemic vax will clean the earth. Hail the dark cure. Amen kzhead.info/sun/dJV9ZaaXqHisZIE/bejne.html
@@shewolfee4247 delusional
@@shewolfee4247 you are very delusional.
Props to Dr. Kelsey for standing her ground. This was also in a culture where women were meant to defer to men. She was a tough lady who didn't take any BS, that's for sure.
If it was happening now, people would call her anti-science..
If this had been happening now, she would be Blocked, Canceled and Banned!
If it were happened now they would have called it a women moment
@@juchou2983 not really. There are drug recalls all the time.
@@BeckBeckGo but there will be no cov vax recall ever, I guarantee you that..
I had a best friend growing up who was also affected by this drug. Her name is Iris. She was in an electric wheelchair and had tiny arms and legs which I found boundlessly interresting and also very funny. She always wanted me to drag her out of the chair and into the sandbox. So I did. And when she was done playing, I would sit in front of her chair so she could climb on my back and I could get her back in her chair. She wasn't really allowed out of her chair but her mother knew due to all the sand in her pants...I missed her when she moved away. She was so funny and was like a ray of sunshine. I never saw her cry or be upset or even down. I loved her and she was my friend. Iris, if you're out there, your friend misses you!! Hope you are living your best life!!
what a lovely depiction of the innocence and purity of childhood!
Lying
Wouldn't it be great if Iris saw this!😊
What a beautiful tribute yo your friend! Thank you for sharing! 💗💗💗
I just love your story!
"Greed and stupidity will end humanity sooner than we expect." - S. Hawking
He couldn't have said it better.
IM CRYING, SO TRUE😭😭😭😢😢😢REST IN SPAGHETTI, NEVER FORGETTI
Couldn't you have spelled his name correctly at least
Easy to sound smart when you use other people’s words, isn’t it?
An example of the chronic capitalism
That doctor undoubtedly helped stop millions of new cases of deformities. It must have been incredibly hard to stand up to such a massive company. I’m horrified that I’ve never heard of her before.
they should make a movie abt her
If you haven’t heard of it before, you should check out the story of the radium girls. Similar to this but earlier and so so interesting and tragic.
Why did people take this to begin with
omalone11 it was Rxd for morning sickness l
she sounds like she was a badass; definitely someone I'd like to be like myself
The woman speaking as a thalidomide survivor is so eloquent and graceful when speaking on the topic despite suffering from it first hand. How inspiring
@NightTimeLounge dude ...
@@johnnyjoestar7143 NightimeLounge was just following in the vein of inappropriate condescension as OP
@@nighttimelounge2181dude not now
@@kaderen8461 what did he say
@@wafflemation6887 i have no clue i forgot
The Doctor who discovered and fought against this terrifying drug has literally saved the whole world, not just Americans, she must be awarded and taken care of really well, i can't thank you enough ma'am.
“Literally saved the whole world”?!? Don’t you think that’s highly hyperbolic?
@Peter Jordan did you watch the video? It was far worse of a problem in countries that aren’t the US
Goes to show the safety nets we rely on can be bought out with money. The best thing to do is avoid all drugs even the FDA approves. There may be somethings out there that cause bad side effects which are being covered up by pharmaceutical greed
@@throbbinwoodofcoxley6830 Can you not?
@@throbbinwoodofcoxley6830 Read the room.
The anger shouldn't be directed at the drug itself, the drug is just an unthinking object. The anger needs to be at the then lack at testing and reluctance to admit fault
Yes, imagine giving untested drugs to pregnant women in 2021. Right?
Just pharmaceutical companies.. there’s a reason why they don’t tell u about the benefits of natural substances instead of chemicals
@@NietzscheanMan Yes covid vaccines
@@NietzscheanMan I caught what you dropped down. 👍🏽
'Lack of testing and reluctance to admit fault', my how some sayings reverberate through time! Sure sounds hauntingly familiar, now doesn't it? d>_0b -when will we learn from our mistakes?, it shouldn't be a matter of time when its a matter of life...dx_xb
My grandmother took Thalidomide during her pregnancy, she got my dad but he was born with a deformed thumb and also deaf. He met my deaf mother though, who is also deaf because of Thalidomide. Today they’re in a group for people that got affected by Thalidomide and it’s like a big family!
aww ! im sorry for what happened to your parents but its cute ! i wish for you happiness
Awww that’s sweet that they could find people who understand and relate to them and become one big family
i'm not trying to be mean i'm just kinda curious.How do u live with deaf parents?Like do u do sign language?
That's actually so cute the heck
💜💜💜Fighting 💜💜💜
My dad is a Thalidomide baby. My grandma took the drug when pregnant and my dad has club feet. Took many operations to kind of fix it. Still in a lot of pain daily. He is my role model in the way he sees life and you never hear him complain about anything
Not to be rude or offensive but does he have any other deformities?
@@shebevgdyehehehg6219 haha thats no problem! No, only his feet and calves
Club feet are not always related to Thalidomide. My father also has club feet and my granny never took Thalidomide, my dad was born before Thalidomide was distributed, even in Germany. No one in the family had ever been to Germany. He had extensive surgery at age 22, including a severed Achilles tendon resulting in a fused ankle. Now retired, the arthritis in his feet is terrible.
Messed up my dads teeth real bad, he’s also an alcoholic 🤷♀️ his mom was prescribed it due to morning sickness
My mom was given a prescription for thalidomide when she was pregnant with me back in 1959. She chose not to take it. For that decision I am eternally grateful. It's tragic what happened, and even more so that babies are still being born with thalidomide birth defects.
Exactly the same with me as a man. I was born at the end of 1959 and I'm more than glad that my mother refused taking the drug.
My mom was prescribed this when she was pregnant with me, but she figured if it worked that good it couldn’t be safe. She refused to take it , thank God.
Wow
@@N0URii exactly...wow!
That almost sounds like irony... Sad that if a medicine works really well it could be too good to be true, because it could create an even bigger problem.
@@mccrea_nyc_1999 But it makes perfect sence in everyday life thought! You always know that if there's an ad that promises you to become rich/gorgeous/feeling like ur 20 years younger it's a scam. If somehing is brilliantly good noone will just sell it to people affordably, they will keep it for the rich.
People back then were naive. But ur mom is really clever..good for u.😊
“They don’t have a right to be shocked. The shock doesn’t belong to them.” Perfectly said
Eh
@Jeremiah Carlson Can you imagine pregnant mothers who took the "covid vaccine" their children comes out like this?
@@Angry.General1461 it’s entirely possible that it could have no effect. in fact, it’s probably more possible that the vaccine has no effect on the infant. science has progressed a lot more since thalidomide was released. we know more about drugs and chemicals and what they do to pregnant women. i’m not saying it will 100% not harm children but i hope it helps you sleep at night to know that there’s a big chance the children of vaccinated mothers will probably be alright.
@@pu55yeatermulletl0ver5 The development of chemicals, their testing, restrictions, etc and the progress that has been made in those fields are a completely different discussion than that of vaccines. Especially the Covid "vaccine" which is not even a vaccine by the traditional definition or pharmacology. A person of your intelligence would do well to research these topics before forming any set opinions as you would likely be able to understand the implications from a more objective point of view. An aptitude that sadly, eludes most.
@@nicholasbstone you still haven’t disproved that the vaccine won’t harm pregnant mothers or their children, therefore my statement that the vaccine could be fine for pregnant women and children is still correct. The thought that the vaccine could be fine for those who have gotten it eases peoples minds and makes them more comfortable in the world. There is no harm in that.
My grandmother was prescribed thalidomide for two of her eight pregnancies. She had a gut feeling and decided against taking it both times. She and my grandfather were dairy farmers living paycheque to paycheque at the time and as blunt as it sounds they needed kids as farmhands. It’s a little spooky to wonder how they would have dealt with my uncles being born severely disabled.
My oldest daughter was treated with this drug to slow the growth of a brain stem tumor....I belive it gave us 10 months that we wouldn't have had, had she not taken it. She passed away 11 months after diagnosis, but remained alert, social and carried out her last months as best a teenager with cancer could.
That's amazing, glad you had more time with her ❤️. But as well, I'm sorry for your loss...
Yes, many drugs are fine to use as long as you aren’t pregnant. Really any drug is a risk when you’re pregnant.
Theres a distinct sort of horror seeing those babies born without arms or legs. The irresponsibility of this company was just atrocious.
Money is the boss
Don't forget the first victims came from the company itself. They really did think they had developed the next ibuprofen. Spending 50 years being told by lawyers to deny everything to not get stripped of everything they own... I don't think anyone walked out of this mess unscarred.
It is horror_i would die if my child had that
The pharmaceutical industry in general is completely atrocious.
Money is flesh
My mother was given a prescription for this drug when pregnant with me...she told me that she didn't have the funds to get it filled. I am thankful for that. Thank you Giselle for sharing your story with us.
Praise God, so scary
Thank god she refused it.
there it is. there it is. the one time the american healthcare system worked well
Wow, talk about by the grace of god, you are luuucky!!
It probably was expensive then woulda cost her an arm and a leg
9:10 "We are nervous, we are ... of course frightened -- dismayed. But we realize that this is not a perfect world". What a profound, brave and concise statement
My grandma (a registered nurse) was prescribed thalidomide for morning sickness, but refused to take it because it was too new to see what the side effects would be. Best choice she ever made!
My mum had terrible morning sickness when she was pregnant with me. She asked her doctor at the time if she could have thalidomide and he refused to give it her. 8m so glad he did b3cause I might have ended up just like those poor ch8ldren.
when my mom was pregnant, the doctor wanted to prescribe this to her. she heard some rumors about the deformities, and she said: No way! I saw many kids of my age with "missing" limbs.
i like that cat in your profile picture
many kids with missing limbs, where did you live Chernobyl?
When my mom was pregnant in 1960 and was having bad morning sickness she asked our doctor for thalidomide and he said absolutely not. Thank God
I was also offered Thalidomide for morning sickness. I said no.
When my Mom was expecting me her doctor gave her Thalidomide. She took a few pills, then heard the stories and threw them away. She was distraught during the whole pregnancy. Fortunately it hadn't affected me. When I became aware of that fact I fell to my knees in gratitude that I am whole.
Whenever I learn about these horrible parts of history it's always striking that this wasn't THAT long ago.
I mean it's been only one year when pharma companies had millions of people take esentially untested vaccines and we're yet to learn what side effects they might have - some are comming to light now.
It's happening right now
@@YamiKisara they aren’t untested and they’ve been in development since the SARS outbreak in 2002. It’s not wise to speak on things you know nothing about.
@@chrisholden7918 But its fun to spread fear and panic, ah humans.
its striking that its happening now in literally everything tho..
My dad had this during cancer treatment and I remember the body had pictures of these baby’s. And my parents told us all about how dangerous the med is. They had to provide information about how they would not have any children
"They don't have the right to be shocked. The shock doesnt belong to them." This was deep in many levels.
Ikr :(
Wow. It's so horrible what happened to these people.
@@themandarin9493 funny how people blindly take a va33ine that isnt fda approved. all for money
@@mello_the_cat bro it literally effects diabetics and obese at the highest rate possible. The general public doesn't need to take a non approved drug that has no liability if anything goes wrong. the effects are unknown when the glorified flu isn't even deadly if you're healthy. Sheep
@@mello_the_cat idk man. I hope there is no long term effects. Remember the vaccine didn't have a long term trial as previous vaccines. We really don't know if people will start having symptoms two or three years down. I really hope it doesn't.
I went to school with a boy that had no arms and practically no shoulders due to this medication. Amazingly, he was able to do almost everything with his feet, even write.
Woah.
Thats talent
@@adraxas13 No, that's environmental adaptation.
My great aunt was a thalidomide baby. She had severe disabilities but was so sweet she was one of the most loved members of our family. I often think of her and hope she understood how adored she was ❤
That is Badass...
It’s sickening to think how many children were killed or abandoned for being deformed. Those parents didn’t deserve children if they weren’t willing to consider the risk of disorders/birth defects that are possible in any pregnancy. Absolutely heartbreaking the way they’d treat an innocent newborn like that. Being born into the world and killed by the ones who were supposed to love you, all just for looking different. And the ones who were abandoned, they must’ve been so confused.
I know. So effing horrible.
Not many families has money and other facilities to raise a deformed child. It takes patience, willingness and unconditional love.
Added to which it was the mother who caused the problem
So how many children with birth defects or injuries have you adopted and raised? None you say, thought so....
@@ue9r6 what does that have to do with me being against ableist parents lmao
This is a heart breaking story,so many children suffered,no amount of money is going to give back what they have lost😢🙏🏻
My good friend Louise is a Thalidomide baby. She was born with no arms, 1 full leg and the other leg ended at the knee with a foot. She taught me how to ride and care for horses, she drives, trains service dogs and lives a full happy life. She has always been an inspiration to me
Alyson Bouchard wow she’s a strong woman I hope for the best for her
Alyson Bouchard one of my friends in 1st grade wasn’t as bad as your friend but she was born without a right hand. She wasn’t having any trouble with it and she even made fun of it with everybody else and she was so strong through all of her surgeries to help her live a normal life.
She sounds amazing
She sounds amazing+
Thats great
My Mum was offered this drug when she was pregnant with my sister, luckily she refused. My Mum still has nightmares when she thinks of it.
Thank God she refused it !!!
@@poop-ny1je oh god yes…!!! When she talks about it you can tell it still affects her.
J, how long ago was it offered? I’m curious.
@@annaleighatiyeh4070 my sister was born in 1962, my Mum was offered it in late 1961. It all came out a few weeks after she was offered it.
Nazi conspiracy?
I’ve been strangely obsessed with this video for a long long time. i’m now using it as an inspiration for an english school project and i want to thank you for being one of the first historical topics of mine. I’m now a history buff and this exact video was kind of the start to my lovely historical studying entertainment and interests. love y’all 💜
My mother was a child when this was happening. She knew a girl deformed by thalidomide living on the same street as her. We were watching the show 'Call the Midwife' which basically depicts the kind of life my mother had in the 50's and 60's London. The episode where the words "Distaval" and "thalidomide" were spoken, she instantly remembered.
I dated a girl in high school whose mother had taken thalidomide, and had birth defects to her hands. She overcame her disabilities by learning to play one of the most difficult instruments in the orchestra, and never let her differences affect her. I admire her for that, and leading a normal life, and despite some teasing from other kids she kept her head up and is still a wonderful gal.
Are you the girl your talking about?
Dude who asked like cool bro u kno a girl
@@melik3063 shouldn't you be in KZhead Kids?
@@gabrielam.7681 U sound 10 years old too the comment he made is just unnecessary and cringey i just didnt enjoy reading it at all who asked keep it to urself
@@melik3063 How does she sound like a 10 year old? Shouldn't you be the one to keep it to yourself since your comment is unrelated to the topic at all.
Wish Hollywood would make a movie about Dr. Frances Kelsey; she saved so many.
Mem Ry Yes!
There's actually a stage production that debuted in 2017 about her! It's [Miss] by W.L. Newkirk
Why dont you suggest it- strongly😀
It'd be awesome!!! Like that Will Smith movie Concussion, love those movies and documentaires (there's a Netflix one on medical devices and it's really eye-opening)
Some stories wont make money. While she made life changing discoveries, no one is going to go see a movie filled with disabled deformed children. Its disturbing. I know I would'nt see it. It's just depressing, just the first 7 minutes of this video was more than enough for me
Unfortunately around that time there were not too many sources of information available as compared to now. Kudos to Dr. Kelsey for her brave stand, resulting in saving so many lives. And Giselle for her wisdom to open to other point of views, and live her best life in spite of her daily challenges and to those parents who loved their children just as they are and took care of them the best way they can.
In the coming years , I fear many health problems will be attributed to the jab we were pushed to take
@@christinebeames712 The amount of information available is "too much" now. Or rather, people's capacity to understand the information and interpret it is stunted. No matter how many sources are available, when you're presented conflicting information and haven't learned proper reading comprehension pr to tell legit and fake sources apart.
I can't express how I feel. I am so touched by the victims choosing the greater good over rightful anger. They are great people. I pray they live long and happy life.
Dr. Frances Kelsey 2:42 is a name every American grade school student should know. Grünenthal was breathing down Kelly's neck to hurry up and clear Thalidomide for sale in the U.S., but she proved incorruptible. Her zealous commitment to her hippocratic oath is the exact brand of heroism that truly saves the day.
Too bad there aren't more like her.
Frances Kelsey.
Susan Wagner-White Oh The Irony of my first sentence. Thanks.
quick correction, zealous not jealous
AlienInDisguise101 No jealous is the right word.
My grandmother was offered Thalidomide for morning sickness when pregnant with my mother. Thank goodness she said no
Cmgamer I know, it's a scary thought. I probably wouldn't exist!
Millie when in 1974 I became pregnant as a teen, my morning sickness lasted all day and night. My OB said it was the worse case he had ever seen. I was admitted to the hospital countless times for dehydration and would only allow IV fluids, saline solution, refusing to take anything else after seeing pictures of all the poor babes born in the early sixties to moms just treating their morning sickness. I was offered so many different things even Valium to stop my constant barfing. The pressure put on me by ER doctors, many OBs was extreme. They told me I was putting my baby at risk as I lost more weight instead of gaining but a picture would enter my mind of a baby born without arms and legs so I held firm. After gaining only 16 pounds, I delivered a healthy 7 lb 6 1/2 oz baby boy. With my subsequent pregnancies I stuck to my own rule, NO MEDICATIONS DURING MY PREGNANCY. Thalidomide taught me my baby's health came before me. This was a time that I knew women who still drank and smoked during their pregnancies. SMH.
Deemaree Dubois was Valium like thalidomide? if you took thalidomide imagine how your baby would look. I think that would be nightmare fuel of missing limbs syndrome
LukeTrinton Valium is a Benzosiazepine still used in emergency medicine and psychiatry.It' s very beneficial in some cases but it's addictive, so taking it once for example for a panic attack or after a serious trauma mostly won't affect the baby, but taking it frequently would get mother and child addicted, so the baby would suffer withdrawal after birth. Benzosiazepines calm you down, so withdrawals can include high blood pressure, anxiety, a increased heart rate , nausea, diarrhea , seizures etc. etc.
Millie yeah it’s scary how life can work like that
Pregnant women should not take any medicine unless absolutely necessary! Everything should be considered potentially toxic.
we were taught about this tragedy during chemistry class in high school. we were studying stereochemistry, optical isomerism specifically.
Dextro helped with morning sickness and laevo caused horrible birth defects?
@@wetraccoonbetterthantrump something like that, yeah. lol
We owe a huge debt of gratitude to Dr. Frances Kelsey. Another woman who has not been given her due for her contributions to science and medicine!
Yes. If you're interested, Rosalind Franklin actually discovered the double helix of DNA. Watson and Crick claimed it and the rest is unfortunately history. :-(
Absolutely right. Such an injustice......
@@shombie2737 Revisionist History. 👎🏼
There was a video of her accepting a literal medal from Kennedy...
Like 99.99% of the female and male scientific community. It is not spwcial because she is female.
My maternal grandfather was a professor in gynecology in Sweden. When this came out and his colleagues started prescribe this he hesitated because he thought it was shady. He never did prescribe it to any patient despite pressure from both patients and colleagues. He viewed it as the best decision of his life.
Bless your grandfather for better judgment 🧡💯
Your grandfather was a good soul for not giving prescriptions for this drug. Ethics are supposed to be used to determine if it is right or wrong to give pharmaceutical drugs that might cause health problems for patients.
Good man. Bless him
The greatest heroism is the moral courage to go against the group when you think what their doing is wrong.
this story just came out of nowhere
Bless her heart.Im thankful she is alive and had family support.I hope all children dealing with this,now grown are doing well.
I once did a job for a new mum. At the end of the day she was talking to me while cradling her baby girl. I reached out to sqeeze what thought was the baby's hand, and to my shock it was just the stub of her arm. The poor mum explained to me that her beautiful little girl was born with no feet, and no hands. I went home that day to my wife and I just burst into tears about that poor baby's horrible handicap.
Dr. Kelsey literally saved America's children... Absolutely amazing, True Hero.
It's a good story, but it's not true. The NYT didn't do it's homework. Look at other sites for the real history of the drug which shows that, in reality, the FDA just got very very lucky due to paperwork and bureaucratic delays
@@froggacuda1605 the delays included Dr. Kelsey refusing approval.
@@Hjernespreng However, if the FDA didnt support her, she would have probably buckled under the mysogininy of the age.
yeah, when america's safe the whole world is...
heil americas lazy and slow paperwork xD
My great aunt took thalidomide, her baby ended up being stillborn, these poor people who were affected by this drug deserve the utmost respect and love.
I'm sorry for your aunt :(
So very sad!
It's strange how those short hand defect is almost similar to the agent 🍊 victims of the Vietnam war?
I can't remember but I think a stillborn baby is when a fetus calcifies and become a rock
@@Breatheairmyguy That’s a lithopedion which is a calcification of the fetus (aka it turns to stone). A stillborn baby is just a baby that was born dead as it had died in the womb (but still looking how it should be rather than stone).
The dextro form of thalidomide was actually helpful for dealing with morning sickness for women, the laevo form was the one which caused birth defects. Many people think that optical isomers aren't very different in their properties, but this shows how important the knowledge of chemistry is.
I have learned so much this is an amazing and interesting sad and warm hearted story but I am very glad that I learned about this topic, my heart goes out to all the kids who lost their lives, and to the ones that lived
This is a decades long chapter in the power of corporate greed that will never and should never be forgotten.
Still occurs today sadly
Corporate greed is the basis of todays economy. Theres no cure when the whole system is cancerous
@@edwardhisse2687 The cure is to get rid of the system, easier said than done of course.
@@XuyenaFire The cure is to get of the system, but the system is preserved by the rich and powerful who benefit from it. People are indoctrinated into believing that this system is required for freedom, but then they ignore the reality that is right in front of their eyes. This is what capitalism has become, and what it will always be going forward. It can only get worse. Corporations are too powerful. The rich can change the world--and the way our daily lives work--on a whim. How is this freedom? It's not. We need to evolve beyond this era. It isn't meant to last forever.
@@edwardhisse2687 I'm not sure if you intended to use "cancerous" somewhat literally, but you're actually not even exaggerating. The corporate system is based on infinite growth (profit), despite limited resources... which, in the context of cell biology, is precisely what causes cancer to be lethal. Not even joking. Cancer is endless cell growth despite limited nutrients in the body. A normal cell has a life cycle that ends in apoptosis, where it dies, so that new cells can thrive. However, cancer cells simply refuse to die. They just continously grow and grow, until they eventually starve healthy cells of nutrients, resulting in the death of the organism as a whole.
This reminds me of the radium girls. It was so obvious they were having issues but the company swore that radium was ok still. It took forever to get radium under lock and key.
I live in radium city and we STILL have barrels of radium buried under the ground. Cancer rates are crazy in my old neighborhood.
@@gratefulmomma4207 hmm you should move
@@maxlosergor if I had the money I would..... trust me
@@maxlosergor really nice comment.
I have do much and many friends and family that believe Doctors 101 0/0
We will never know how many babies Frances Kelsey saved. God bless her. Back then, in that environment, she had to have been the strongest woman on Earth.
I can remember when this happened. It has taken many years for victims to get any compensation from the company. Some babies were actually placed near an open window, so that they would die if they were very deformed too. Such a sad time.
Nonsense
@@karlabritfeld7104 it's not Nonsense.....
10:15 what a great outlook. i wish more people were open minded like her seeing that there are positives for something that's hurt you and affected your whole life - very mature
I was prescribed Thalidomide when I was pregnant with my first child and I was never told about it's side effects. My bebe has suffered with one leg shorter than the other all her life. I can't prove that it was the drug but I'm convinced it caused this deformity.
I would be going to see a solicitor if I were you they can see your records and what medication you were on at the time
Can u pay for a limb lenghtning surgery?
I knew someone in girlscouts with the same condition! Tell your bebe that she's not alone and it doesn't make her weird no matter what people say!🥰🥰
Limb lengthening is very limited and is very iffy since the usual is breaking the bone in segments and forcing space so it then would be healed in between. And that what causes the limitation you need to consider how far you can stretch the muscle and the skin yet still keep a functioning shape so thoes operations on average only give very few inches
U should have told ur spouse that these doctors did not make u aware about the side affects honestly y were they giving pregnant women these things without consulting their families
How come I've NEVER heard of this until today. This needs more attention.
@Gi Gi I live in India and I'm also just 20 so I can understand it's kind of hard to come across this. But even then, I like reading a lot about history and stuff and I've never come across this by chance, so that's why I'm a little surprised.
This is a really famous story.
Wow mee too
If you're old enough, you know about the Thalidomide babies. It was a big story that got lots of attention -- 60 years ago. I was born in 1960, the year the drug came to the U.S. However, I did not grow up with a child whose mother took the drug for her morning sickness.
@Gi Gi it's also a pretty famous case in Brazil, we learn that in chemistry class
If living with my grandparents in a small village thought me anything, it was to never trust pharmacy.
Never knew about this, what a tragedy.. Thanks for making me aware about this, and sharing this important information.
One of the countries that doesnt have any Thalidomide case is Turkey. All thanks to Professor Doctor Süreyya Tahsin who studied on medicine concluding that the drug has a side effect on the embryo. He immediately warned the health minister of the time and made sure no one used the medicine. A remarkable scientist. edit: hi everyone a lot of people corrected me on how many other countries didnt have any cases so i fixed the sentence. hope i didn't offend anyone.
That's remarkable!
Bless him and his family forever.
He's a truly impressive doctor and a credit to the medical field. I only wish more could be like him and Dr. Kelsey.
he’s a better man than me🙏
Great man.
The fact I carry multiple degrees and hadn't heard her name until well into adulthood is terrifying. Dr Kelsey is a literal legend and hero!
Exactly. Many of our current medical experts seem to be seriously brainwashed, an essential allowing the right to practice.
Next month I will have my third. (Healthcare) and this was never a topic that was touched on in all the education I got and I wonder why.
the more left leaning the College the more irrelevant the degree, as the saying goes
@@samjohnstone1356 @EepOpOrk OMFG Y'all can't help popping off your jealousy at educated/intelligent people. We get it. You're inferior. It bothers you so much that someone mentioned college degrees that you had to assume politics were involved somehow - probably a habit of shoving politics into every conversation by now - that you made the first insult you could think of into an adage.
@@AlexiasShado lol if those kids could read they would be very offended at ur comment
My dad was born in Mexico in 1963. Today i took my dad in for an appointment. He has a deformity on his left hand. The doctor suggested that i look up thalidomide. This broke my heart. I dont lnow if this is the cause of his deformity. But i love my dad. He's a very smart man. I am six months sober today. And im helping him out with his alcoholism. God bless everyone.
Thank you! This video was very informative...
I am one of the lucky ones, my mother took thalidomide whilst carrying me, I have totally messed up / missing toes on both feet. That's it. Never affected my ability to walk, get a degree, have a family or do anything else, always totally hidden, people know me for years without ever knowing I was touched by this tragedy. In comparison to many I really was not affected at all, I know life would be have been very different had it been fingers messed up rather that toes.
You were blessed
She probably took it when you were mostly developed? Could you ask her when she started to take it during the pregnancy? I am curious about this.
QuadQ That you consider yourself lucky: respect!!
Rockie If deformed by medicine is “blessed” in your view . . .
All the kids were blessed.
That female who is a deformation victim. Is an absolute miracle and I hope she is recognized for her voice someday. She is so human. "in good conscious I cannot be opposed." She even wants nothing but a note in history. But she wants those who can be helped. to be helped. She is quite a woman.
+Chris Thwaites I couldn't agree more.
It's actually "good conscience" instead of "good conscious" :) And yes I do agree with you. She is indeed a remarkable person.
Of COURSE she is "so human." She IS human.
She is human. Just because she has short arms, doesn't mean she isn't human. Your comment does not make sense.
Starry Bear he's saying that she represents everything good about the human race. Humanity. Being a good human.
My mother was prescribed thalidomide for morning sickness. She took it for a while but it didn't help so she stopped taking it, thankfully. I was born in 1960 and wasn't affected, but I do think about the others who weren't so fortunate. I understand that this drug is still used in some other countries though.
my dad was affected by this, and its mad trippy reading abt smth that is in ur family
The victim who speaks throughout the video is very wise with her words and her views on the drug. I have a lot of respect for her.
@@michellehousems.lavatwinfi2011 tf?
@@theliteralsun5246 its a bot
🤠
True that.
How can they be “shocked” when they all knew how bad it was. That’s called not caring.
That's also minus conscience.
It’s called sticking your head in the sand and hoping it will magically go away. Like Trump did with the pandemic.
@@ALT-vz3jn nope nothing alike, educate yourself
It's called negligence.
@@BadcatV nope, negligence isn’t taking steps to lessen the virus spread by shutting down travel from the place it originated and media calls you xenophobic. It’s not saying the truth about the virus being from wuhan and still it’s denied even though it’s true. Rather trump than Biden any day. America was all the better for it despite propaganda tearing us apart.
This is absolutely heart breaking. I feel deeply sorry for every single one of these adorable and innocent children. I feel like giving them the biggest, warmest hug to show they are not alone :(
The greed of drug companies is absolutely disgusting!
Still going on today
Johnson and Johnson killed me .
Capitalism
@@CptGravel based
Especially now.
We should have a national day to honor the doctor, Dr. KELSEY who discovered and questioned it's affects on pregnancy.
She should honored with Nobel peace prize!!
Yes so I can have another day off!
@Johan Fouche "doing your job" she was the one doctor who didn't just brush it under the carpet that something was wrong with the drug
"affects on pregnancy". Actually, that's "effects" :)
@@shombie2737 lol people always have trouble with that one
The victims had so much forgiveness, grace and wisdom.
To have the grace of the woman who was born to so much suffering, but also know that it also has helped people, too, is just beyond my comprehension. I am grateful to her. She shows me how to be more like her… ❤
"Thalidomide restricts blood flow." This alone explains the birth defects.
One man's meat is another man's poison.
Totally agreed!!!
Covid vaccine
@@lyingdogfaceponysoldier6976 covid vaccine is good for you
@@lyingdogfaceponysoldier6976 covid vaccine helps people
Giselle seems like such a nice person for everything she has been through
I know, she’s so inspiring and beautiful!
It sounds like her parents had a lot to do with it.
@@oldauntzibby4395 Yeah, I agree 😊
Ye, but the total change of opinion on a drug that is meant to help cure some kind of cancers is pretty sad, like, I get it, you don't want more people to go through what you had to go through, but at the same time it's not the drug fault if people take it when they've not been prescribed with it and they don't respect the guidelines they're supposed to follow
@@chl6519 I was talking about the woman they interviewed opinion on the drug, of course it's the company faulth if this whole incident happened
What a brave woman. She lives with the affects of this drug every day - physical and emotional- yet she realizes its possible benefits for other people. So she and others like her reluctantly say "OK".
My cousin is a thalidomide. He's been on TV a couple times, but it's amazing how well he just gets on with life, does everything any "normal" person would, just without arms & legs, and his mother was amazing. Died 2 years ago, but would have been 100 yesterday! ❤
My mom took Thalidomide for three weeks when she was pregnant with me. I am so lucky to have all my limbs, and never forget that for a minute!
Do you have any other problems, like infertility, mental issues?
@@katesun2957 no none, I consider myself extremely lucky ☺️
Wow what a luck! I'm so lucky to read that you're fine. English isn't my native language, but I hope I express myself good enough to tell you that I wish you everything good and only the best and that I'm lucky for you
@@jocoombe3 I'm so happy for you too.
Bye about the 5th week Joe you would have been dead.
I can only imagine the mothers who took thalidomide, they must have felt guilt for taking it :(
Call the Midwife did a couple episodes based on it, really well done.
Im sure some committed suicide from guilt
I did! and stopped just in time a have two grown children, now. But my sister had two children born with holes in their hearts, heart murmurs. Using debendox morning sickness pills.
Not to be negative but that's why, if you can, you should stay away from drugs unless you really absolutely need them to cure a disease. Having a headache? Drink some tea instead of having an aspirin
@@JohaxAlvarado Drugs don't cure diseases, they can treat them and other conditions though.
Call The Midwife is an awesome show that depicts this era so well and I had no idea about thalidomide until I watched it
Thank you to all the scientists and doctors who do all these research to better human lives. Big pharma and federal grant funded research are so so different and it always warms my heart to see passion for advancement and love for science in new generations to come. It’s not easy work and it doesn’t pay as well as private businesses so it’s really a labor of love. Thank you for your hard work!
You are out of your frigging mind. Go on one of the drug companies websites and view the covid vax damages. YOU will be horrified.
I went to the high school named after Frances Kelsey. So happy a lady from a small town In Canada did something so huge. When she passed away our school had a huge memorial and it was so interesting to learn about her successes .
What a hero
Kelsey Tupper Thank you so much for sharing this information! I'm so very glad to learn that she has been memorialized by your former high school. It's great to see that such a wonderful lady is being remembered, especially in this day and age when celebrities who have never benefited anyone else often gain the greatest amount of attention. I had assumed that she was an American since she worked for the US government. 🇨🇦👩🏻⚕️☤
Kelsey Tupper I love Canada 🇨🇦 my country 🇺🇸 could learn so much from yours
so inspirational! u should be so proud to be a part of legacy, n dont get it twisted, ur obligated to honor her legacy! im just proud havin to replied to you! i hope u no waste your legacy just sitting back and doin nothin in the face of whats happening! be brave n proud n represent us that aint as lucky as you!!!!
She was Canadian? I didn't know that. That may explain why she doesn't get more attention in the US. Often you see people who do big things for a country that they weren't born in don't get the recognition they deserve.
Safe for pregnant women? How could they ever claim that? Its insane how they lie to people so easily
That’s the pharmaceutical industry in a nutshell
@@akir340 That's a good point! They say it's safe for the pregnant woman, not for the baby!
They claim that with the covid vaccines. But several women have lost their babies after receiving it. Most in the first trimester. But at least 1 was in the 3rd
Just like they are doing for the covid vaccine... with almost zero research and no long term research whatsoever!
What's even worse than the pharmaceutical companies are the government agencies that approve the drugs
Very famous case - I remember learning about it in chemistry or biochem class. It makes me wonder what other medications are out there that we shouldn’t be taking. I mean, Oxycontin was also marketed towards doctors as a painkiller less addictive than regular painkillers.
Learned about this chemistry class in school. The fact that people didn't realise that Thalidomide contained chiral carbons make me scared to take certain medications period. Medicines take time to be green lighted for this exact reason. It also reminds me of the vix inhaler ban in the USA that was also due to chiral chemistry. How nasty- I feel terrible for those affected by this tragedy.
It's ironic, we imagine strong, fit, and beautiful people as leaders and heroes, but it's often people with deformities and disabilities that most illustrate the best of the human spirit.
This made me smile. Always felt really down and privileged about my disability, sometimes never felt it was a real or valid one, always felt there were stories that upped mine so I couldn't be disabled. I didn't even know I was disabled until this year. I'm a type one diabetic since 5 years old
I am not a qoute person but this, this I love
Its often not that at all lmao, thats just the modern more feelings over strength, power, and leadership version of heroes.
Compound complex pog
Here here! 👏
“The shock doesn’t belong to them.” That woman is as wise as she is strong. And as strong as she is beautiful. 🖤
❤💜
sus
I want this strong hero woman to strangle me and step on my weak man balls
@@stingweeber6394 .........
@@stingweeber6394 bruh
Superb presentation & reporting. I would like to see more about people born since 2006 & the release/use outside of the US
Anything *marketed* as "safe for pregnant women" has always been strange to me. Yesterday an ad showing washing vegetables with soap was okay, that you can even wash babies with it. I just know there's something up with those scummy marketing.
Yeah even stuff from Johnson & Johnson ain’t all that good for babies :/
@golden flower child i know right? People are so quick to let go of personal responsibility if things around them promise they don't need to worry about it for long enough. but given the amount of science denying freaks in this comment section alone maybe the world isn't ready for people to be accountable yet lmfao Also, why tf would you wash vegetables with soap??
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@@werstillnotfreedamit8701 English please?
Makes me think of the covid vaccine
My father was one who was affected by thalidomide. He had to had surgery to fix his foot so that he could walk. This is the first video I've actually heard about thalidomide. I knew it was something in the 60s but I had no idea it was on this scale...
Oh slam
My love sent to your father. My Soul cries for his pain.
@@justicenow1234 thank you for worrying. He is just fine. :) His was one of the less extreme cases so the surgery really helped him. ^^ figured you'd like to know. He's okay.
@Vincent Kurushimi you're welcome...and tell your father, to know he had a successful operation makes my Soul feel a little better. It's very sad, how the Government and Drug Agencies use people for lab rats, to their own failures, created by them. It breaks my heart
It’s quite a scandal. Like the Tuskegee experiment was hidden. Glad your Dad’s ok
This was a nightmare. It's happening again today.
Great program.
I'm a chemist and I can also shed some light on this. Thalidomide has two forms, S-thalidomide and R-thalidomide. This is called a racemic mixture. Basically there are two sides of the molecule and the R or S determines which side points up. S-thalidomide caused all of the birth defects but R-thalidomide is still an effective drug. It's one of the cases we chemists look at as one of our greatest failures and an important reminder of why the small details are important. The problem with racemic mixtures is they are hard to isolate. Chemists studying it initially only noticed and studied the R compound, which is how it made it past the first round.
Luke Douglass Fascinating. Thank you for shedding more light on this!
Yay science! Thanks for the info
Conformational structures!!!!
You're all welcome, I tried my best to explain it in a way that was understandable to the average person.
Luke Douglass Can’t R thalidomide also become S type in the body as well?
My grandmother's took this drug to help with morning sicknesses and ihave an uncle who is a thalidomide hes almost 60 and has short arms up to his elbows. He is amazing and lives his life like anyone else. And thankfully within the last 10 years those poor souls were compensated from the German manufacturers and my uncle recieves a yearly payment of 65,000 nzd for next 20 years and also got a lump sum payment. They so deserved that compensation x
Good to know that (hopefully all of) those injured were compensated. I can't imagine the self-directed guilt those poor mothers lived with the rest of their lives, too. Back at a time when sleeping pills were deemed a necessity. They thought they were helping their families by getting better sleep at night. :,(
@@catbird7007 it must have been terrible for those mums, the company blaming it on them too. When I was pregnant I was terrified of taking in anything that would injure my babies health. No honey and no meds whatsoever. So then I breast fed because it stopped the babies getting allergies and prevented me from getting breast cancer!! So she has allergies and I did get breast cancer. But we have both survived and I am trying to take life as it comes now. There is so little we can control but thanks to a few brave people I didn't have to worry about taking thalidomide for morning sickness.
@@amelianna6004 no honey ???? why not ?
@@Rubiecat i knew that babies shouldnt have honey till 1 but i didn't remember why so I googled it for you:Honey can contain bacteria which can germinate in a baby's gut and cause infant botulism, a rare illness that can cause paralysis and is potentially fatal. Babies' intestines aren't mature enough to destroy the bacteria, so you'll need to keep honey away from your baby until they turn 1.
@@Rubiecat Is honey safe to eat during pregnancy? Honey is perfectly safe to eat during pregnancy. While it is known for sometimes containing bacterial spores, this is very rare. And your stomach and immune system are likely to be able to manage these bacteria, without any harm coming to you or your baby. I also recommend that everyone should research these topics themselves to develop your own opinion.
Kind of scary for me, as I am someone who had Hyperemesis Gravidarum and need medication to treat it to carry my baby full term without ending up in hospital. If I was a woman in during this time no doubt my children would have ended up with these awful deformaties especially as BC wasn't that well sorted yet. So happy the lady that stood her ground for all the mothers out there in the world.
When I tell you my eyes widened when I heard my home country, Trinidad and Tobago, I'm not kidding! I'm glad I'm able to learn more about these crucial topics even after all this time.
My mother was born without her left ear because of Thalidomide. Luckily it was not too bad.
I knew a guy who had only two fingers on his left hand, and I think a shortened left arm. I always suspected it might be thalidomide-his mother was Danish, and he was born in the early 60s-but of course I'll never know for sure.
Derpy Gaming she was lucky x
Scuba Diva I'm danish and I remember my history teacher, who was born in the 60's also, saying that a lot of children in his generation where missformed because of thalidomide. I don't have any numbers but I suspect my country did take a lot of this drug.
I'm glad that she's alright
Derpy Gaming bless your mom
Why isn't something like this taught in history books? So that we don't repeat such a mistake.... (edit: thanks for replying and letting me know that it's taught in school, but in my school they never taught us abt this and other severe cases, so its good to know that it's taught in other schools, hopefully such cases will never be repeated in the future)
Because it makes modern medicine look bad.
My chemistry teacher actually brought it up and showed us a short video on the topic when we were learning enantiomers (don't know if that's the english word) in class. It's both an interesting and horrifying tragedy nonetheless
In Germany, it got mentioned by our history teacher once. But I don't think that it is written down in history books. You may find it in documentaries about that time though.
It was part of our chemistry syllabus in secondary school. Should definitely be taught everywhere
Learned this in high school from my biology teacher in 2009. 🤷
The main interviewee is such a nice and well spoken lady 😊 glad her parents showed her so much attention growing up!
Trevor.....if you're still out there.....so glad as kids we treat you with respect.
That's so awesome that the victims had such an understanding veiwpoint on Thalidomide being used again.
Raven Devino it's being used again????
As stated in the video, it's being used for several severe diseases, as a last effort, mostly in third world countries. They screen the best they can to make sure pregnant women do not take it, but as stated in the video, there are still a few cases of childhood deformities.
Torrence butIdontWanna there is several medications that cause deformities you just don't take them while pregnant.
Sami Kay the lack of knowledge and the fact that they didn’t have any ethical nor sufficient trials done for the drugs is why we had these incidents. At that time, scientists didn’t have any ethical policies to adhere to nor they needed approval for trials or drug distribution as now. It’s through these mistakes, we learnt ... still unethical people exists and they harm the populations and those true scientists who work hard to help.
Nerdy Snailie that's not at all what this is about? The comment was about being appalled that they would let this medication be used again. There is no problem with it being used, there are several medications now that can cause deformities and death in fetuses, those medications aren't perscribed to pregnant women and the patient is told to not get pregnant. The medication itself is not this evil dangerous thing, it helps give dieing people a normal life for the remainder of their time on earth.
Giselle’s attitude toward the situation is the absolute pinnacle of maturity and kindness. The fact that she was so negatively affected by the drug, but understood that it had potential to help reduce the suffering of others when used properly is absolutely awe inspiring. Her level of compassion is so refreshing and heartwarming, I hope she’s thriving.
Yes, I thought the same. She gives me hope in humanity.
Shes such a sweetheart 💕
She is the type of person we should have in charge of FDA type decisions. Not someone who helped create the drugs.
I had a neighbor that had little arms.. But she could cook.. And she took care of baby.. Awesome