Scott Madin

So this is going around and is a lot of misinformation. Thalidomide actually, notably, WAS NOT approved by the FDA in the 50s/60s. It was used commonly in Europe, where testing and approval was less rigorous, but when it came to the US in 1960, the FDA said “nope.” FOUR TIMES. https://twitter.com/BillyPrempeh/status/1430008380156952576 …

Worldwide, 100k people were affected by adverse effects of Thalidomide, which caused the birth defects or miscarriages referenced in the OP. But in the US? Just 17. Because the FDA said no. Those 17 cases were the result of doctor samples that the drug company sent out.

This is literally the topic of this week’s @Sawbones, which is honestly very fitting.

Did they include that they’ve figured out what the actual teratogenic mechanism is, because that is SO NEAT from a science nerd perspective