Thalidomide row

摘要

BIRTH defects in at least 100 Brazilian babies have been blamed on use of the anti-nausea drug thalidomide to treat symptoms of leprosy in pregnant women. However, independent researchers have questioned the claim, saying it is based on unpublished research and lacks proof of thalidomide as the cause.According to a BBC report on 24 July, Lavinia Schiiler-Faccini at the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul in Porto Alegre examined the birth records of 17.5 million babies born between 2005 and 2010 and identified 100 with birth defects consistent with exposure to thalidomide.