Malformations

Medications and supplements

Probably, the most well-known teratogenic drug is thalidomide. It was developed near the end of the 1950s by Chemie Grünenthal as a sleep-inducing aid and antiemetic. Because of its ability to prevent nausea, it was prescribed for pregnant women in almost 50 countries worldwide between 1956 and 1962. Until William McBride published the study leading to its withdrawal from the market in 1961, about 8,000 to 10,000 severely malformed children were born. The most typical disorders induced by thalidomide were reductional deformities of the long bones of the extremities. Phocomelia, otherwise a rare deformity, therefore helped to recognise the teratogenic effect of the new drug. Among other malformations caused by thalidomide were those of ears, eyes, brain, kidney, heart, and digestive and respiratory tracts; 40% of the prenatally affected children died soon after birth. As thalidomide is used today as a treatment for multiple myeloma and leprosy, several births of affected children were described in spite of the strictly required use of contraception among female patients treated by it.