Remembering THALIDOMIDE

摘要

The 50 years since the worst medical disaster of the 20th century has witnessed strong growth in our understanding of chemically induced disease. Is Australia keeping abreast of this fast-moving field? In 1950s societies across the developed world, stressed-out World War II survivors struggled with the fast-paced social change of modern times. To help their patients overcome stress-related conditions such as sleeplessness, physicians prescribed vast numbers of barbiturate tranquilisers: in 1955 alone, the US drug industry produced 26 barbiturate pills for every man, woman and child in the country.