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The drug that left thousands of newborn babies severely malformed between the late 1950s and early 1960s has been given a public relations makeover—and a new name—and is now being used to fight a certain type of blood cancer.

By Todd Morehead

Controversial drug gets a makeover

Thalidomide is back. The drug that left thousands of newborn babies severely malformed between the late 1950s and early 1960s has been given a public relations makeover—and a new name—and is now being used to fight a certain type of blood cancer. It was recommended for approval for use in Europe by the European Medicines Agency late last month.

In 1956 a German pharmaceutical company called Chemie Grünenthal rushed their newly synthesized drug, thalidomide, through clinical trials, gained hasty approval from West Germany’s Federal Health Office and distributed it over the counter using the brand name Contergan. The drug was marketed as a sedative that also combated symptoms of morning sickness in pregnant women. One Grunenthal employee reportedly gave the drug to his pregnant wife during its trial period and when his child was born without ears researchers failed to make the connection. During the drugs roughly five years on the market in Europe some 10,000 babies were born with malformed internal organs and were often missing their arms and legs, many sprouting flipper-like appendages from their shoulders and hips. The marketing of the drug is considered by many to be one of the great medical tragedies of the 20th Century.

But the drug may redeem itself in the 21st Century. In 2003, the Mayo Clinic reported on a group of researchers at the University of Arkansas who found that thalidomide effectively sent multiple myeloma, a type of blood cancer, into complete remission. Thalidomide—now often marketed as Thalomid—was approved by the FDA in 2006 as a treatment for myeloma.

Some European handicapped rights activists—who don’t want to interfere with patient recovery but who also fear that another generation of thalidomide babies could be born—are pushing for strict guidelines. Proponents of the new use of the drug say the birth defects associated with thalidomide would not effect men (who can’t become pregnant) or women with multiple myeloma, as that condition alone would likely discourage pregnancy during treatment. Still, routine pregnancy testing is also required during treatment as well as a thalidomide education program. Last month, the European Medicines Agency recommended that thalidomide be used to treat multiple myeloma patients over the age of 65.

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