Three women were sitting down and knitting onesies talking about being pregnant for the first time. The first woman reaches down and takes a pill out of her purse and pops it in her mouth. The other women just stare at her. The first woman says "It's a calcium supplement, I want my baby to have strong bones." then she goes back to knitting.

The second woman reaches into her purse and grabs a pill and then pops that into her mouth. The other two women stop and stare at her. The second woman announces "It's vitamin e, I want my baby to have strong hair and good skin" The second woman then resumes her knitting.

The third woman then reaches into her purse and takes a pill and pops that one into her mouth. The other two women stop and stare at her. She says "it's thalidomide, I don't know how to knit sleeves."

[–] Jinarched@lemmy.ca 7 points 4 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago)

I used to manipulate those at an old job. Even if they were packaged, I had to wear a mask and gloves every single time. They also made us read multiple articles with photos of terrible birth defects. They weren't fucking around.

[–] okwhateverdude@lemmy.world 30 points 5 days ago (1 children)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phocomelia

[–] Th4tGuyII@fedia.io 27 points 5 days ago

Exactly. When the consequences of even a single dose while pregnant are this severe for your newborn - and completely preventable by just not taking this medication - I want there to be labels everywhere possible, even the tablets themselves.

There should be no chance of anyone taking this without knowing the potential consequences, not after the needless suffering many mothers went through for this to be found out.

[–] whyNotSquirrel@sh.itjust.works 22 points 5 days ago (1 children)

Thalidomide was first developed as a tranquilizer by Swiss pharmaceutical company Ciba in 1953. In 1954, Ciba abandoned the product, and it was acquired by German pharmaceutical company Chemie Grünenthal.[4] The company had been established by Hermann Wirtz Sr, a Nazi Party member, after World War II as a subsidiary of the family's Mäurer & Wirtz company. The company's initial aim was to develop antibiotics for which there was an urgent market need.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thalidomide_scandal

I start to think that those Nazi people made bad thing happening on earth

[–] protist@retrofed.com 18 points 5 days ago

The problem with this logic is that it extends to literally every business that existed in Germany during or immediately after WWII. The guy who exposed thalidomide as a teratogen and all but stopped its use worldwide had also been a Nazi. In reality, the pharmaceutical industry in all countries in the 40s and 50s had few to no guardrails and they caused a lot of inadvertent damage

[–] OwOarchist@pawb.social 16 points 5 days ago (2 children)

Should I take it while pregnant, though?

[–] sunsofold@lemmy.zip 4 points 4 days ago

Only if you really want to be truly free and not live cucked by all those science worshippers.

[–] jobbies@lemmy.zip 5 points 5 days ago

I think yes. What's the worst that could happen?

[–] justaman123@lemmy.world 3 points 4 days ago

They prescribed it for morning sickness

[–] SkaveRat@discuss.tchncs.de 1 points 3 days ago

One of my childhood (maybe around 9?) memories is me sitting in a bus with my mom, and me noticing a woman a couple seats over. who basically just had hands attached to her shoulders. Almost no arms whatsoever

My mom noticed me staring and nudged me. Later she tried to explain why the woman looked like that

This drug is such a tragic medical story

[–] A_norny_mousse@piefed.zip 5 points 5 days ago (1 children)

What are the tins on the picture? Considering the capsules can't be too large for swallowing whole, the tins must be tiny. Yet contain 25 tablets? I'm confused.

[–] protist@retrofed.com 5 points 5 days ago

It looks like the tins aren't related to the doses in cardboard, they're other brand names/formulations of thalidomide that are all different dosages. I see distaval 25mg and 100mg there. They also look old and may be antiques vs the new way it's distributed

[–] zr0@lemmy.dbzer0.com 4 points 5 days ago (2 children)

What if I can’t read? What if I can only read braille? There need to be more labels. I am talking about Golden Record level of making sure that it is understood.

[–] NOT_RICK@lemmy.world 5 points 5 days ago (1 children)

PHARMACIST: DISPENSE INTACT. THIS DRUG MUST NOT BE REPACKAGED. DO NOT DISPENSE UNLESS PATIENT HAS BEEN COUNSELED ON THE RISK OF BIRTH DEFECTS ASSOCIATED WITH THIS DRUG, AND A SIGNED INFORMED CONSENT FORM HAS BEEN PRESENTED.

[–] Buddahriffic@lemmy.world 3 points 5 days ago

Also the no pregnancy icons by each pill.

[–] Bgugi@lemmy.world 1 points 3 days ago

This is not a pill of honor...

[–] Jankatarch@lemmy.world 1 points 4 days ago* (last edited 4 days ago)

If I ever sell birth-control pills they will come with this same package.

[+] JackTea@piefed.world -8 points 5 days ago (8 children)

This is for Americans. Let that sink in. WE need these warnings...and a lot ( and I mean A LOT) won't see these warnings.

[–] Earthwormjim91@lemmy.world 3 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago)

No we don’t, because it wasn’t approved in the US until the late 90s and only for treating VERY specific cancers.

It was pushed out in West Germany in the 50s specifically as a morning sickness med while pregnant, which is why these warnings are on there.

[–] glimse@lemmy.world 16 points 5 days ago

Have you ever seen a pack of cigarettes in Europe

[–] QuietGenesis@lemmy.world 9 points 5 days ago* (last edited 5 days ago)

Are you trying to say people in many countries wont see these warnings because of weak regulations for the pharmaceutical industry? I dont get what you mean when you say "WE (Americans) need these warnings," because that sounds like youre saying Americans are so stupid they need the warnings when I would say that everyone should be warned about thalidomide side effects.

[–] IWW4@lemmy.zip 8 points 5 days ago

Huh.. I don’t understand your point. So you think we should just know that this medicine is dangerous for pregnant women?

[–] TryingToBeGood@reddthat.com 5 points 5 days ago

actually, the FDA refused to approve this drug, which is why we don't have a generation of people with terminal limb deformities from it.

[–] ricecake@sh.itjust.works 4 points 5 days ago

Eh, kinda a stretch to make this about Americans.
In the original thalidomide problem it was the same 'paranoia' that kept it entirely off the market in the US.

Beyond that, I'm not sure I get the reasoning behind "Americans are so dumb that they put safety and usage instructions on cancer medication, with emphasis on the most severe warnings!”
Why wouldn't you want to label dangerous things that are actually, uniquely hazardous?

[–] espentan@lemmy.world 2 points 5 days ago

I believe, in general, it's a lot harder to hold a company liable for your own stupidity in Europe.

[–] espentan@lemmy.world 1 points 5 days ago (1 children)

Reminds me.. back in the 90s I had two Miatas, one imported from Canada and one from the US. In the operating manuals, one difference that stood out in the US manual was the inclusion of a warning to not stand while driving.

Those poor Canadian Miata owners didn't stand a chance, did they.

[–] HikingVet@lemmy.ca 0 points 5 days ago

I'm wondering due to the size of Miata why an American would think they could stand while driving.

[+] starlinguk@lemmy.world -19 points 5 days ago* (last edited 5 days ago) (4 children)

It's still used for treating severe nausea in pregnant women, even. In life and death cases.

Pregnancy. Such fun.

[–] Kirp123@lemmy.world 26 points 5 days ago (1 children)

You have a source for that? Nausea is just a symptom and can't really be life and death by itself.

Thalidomide is still mainly used for the treatment of multiple myeloma and leprosy.

Also a fun fact is that the US was basically unaffected by the thalidomide crisis because a pharmacologist employed by the FDA refused to approve the medication on the basis that it lacked sufficient clinical trials. Frances Oldham Kelsey resisted pressure from the company that was trying to sell the medicine in the US and only 17 people were affected in the US compared to the 20000 figure cited for global cases. JFK awarded her with a presidential award for her service.

[–] whyNotSquirrel@sh.itjust.works 2 points 5 days ago

but the company still sent 2.5millions pills to doctors in the US before approval thinking it would be fast to get the permit....

[–] Photonic@lemmy.world 25 points 5 days ago

doubt

[–] OwOarchist@pawb.social 16 points 5 days ago (1 children)

A life and death case of nausea, huh? Sure, buddy. Sure.

[–] idiomaddict@lemmy.world 3 points 5 days ago* (last edited 5 days ago)

I wouldn’t say that they still use thalidomide to treat it, at least not it in countries with well regulated medical industries, but nausea during pregnancy that causes hyperemesis can absolutely be life threatening, especially without proper treatment (so it’s something you would consider life threatening when weighing a treatment plan, but IV fluids and nutrition through a PICC are obviously a safer and better treatment than thalidomide). The psychological effects of constant, overwhelming nausea can be so serious for the pregnant person that it’s life threatening even without the nutritional problems.

In that case, even if there’s no effective treatment, I still suspect doctors would advise terminating the pregnancy over something like thalidomide though, to be clear. I just had a sister with HG, and saw how devastating it was for her.

We don’t talk about the potential negative side effects of pregnancy or childbirth nearly enough, and the depiction in popular culture of pregnancy related nausea as a harmless annoyance is only one example, but that’s a rant for another day.

[–] echodot@feddit.uk 2 points 4 days ago* (last edited 4 days ago)

No it isn't. There's plenty of safe anti-nausea medication on the market why would they use something like this that would cause birth defects?

Also as far as I'm aware preventing nausea isn't even one of its effects. When are you getting this information from?