Thalidomide

Thalidomide is responsible for the biggest medical disaster in history, causing severe birth defects in more than 10,000 children, globally, between 1957 and 1962. Understanding how thalidomide caused birth defects has remained a challenge for many years. Yet thalidomide is now used around the world to successfully treat a wide range of conditions, including leprosy, Crohn's disease, multiple myeloma, and some cancers. Tragically, however, with its renewed use children are again being born with thalidomide-induced deformities, particularly in Brazil. Breakthroughs in the understanding of thalidomide's teratogenic actions raise the possibility of producing analogs or synthesizing new forms of thalidomide that maintain the clinical benefits but without the teratogenic side effects.