The Thalidomide Trial
Witness History
English - May 27, 2016 09:38 - 9 minutes - 4.17 MB - ★★★★★ - 853 ratingsHistory Homepage Download Apple Podcasts Google Podcasts Overcast Castro Pocket Casts RSS feed
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On May 27th 1968, executives of Chemie-Grunenthal, the German company that made the drug thalidomide, went on trial charged with criminal negligence. Thalidomide had caused serious often fatal birth defects in thousands of babies after their mothers took the drug during pregnancy thinking it was safe. It was one of the biggest pharmaceutical scandals of post-war Europe, and the trial would last more than two years.
Photograph: A Thalidomide child undergoes rehabilitation, 1963 (Credit: Keystone/Getty Images)