Bitter Elixir: Thalidomide, Seals, and the Heroes Who Sounded the Alarm
About This Novel
"Bitter Elixir: Thalidomide, Seals, and the Heroes Who Sounded the Alarm" challenges the official American narrative that there are almost no thalidomide victims in the United States: Although thalidomide has never been marketed in the United States, as many as five pharmaceutical companies still provided at least 2.5 Million tablets of thalidomide to thousands of doctors across the United States for so-called "clinical trials." These thalidomides were freely prescribed to nearly 20,000 Americans, including thousands of women of childbearing age. As a result, at least nearly a hundred "seal babies" were born in the United States. What conceals these shocking figures are the blatant lies of pharmaceutical companies and drug test doctors, the FDA's concealment of information and its distorted interpretation of investigation results in order to shirk responsibility, and the U. S. Department of Justice's lenient approach to the drug companies responsible. Today, more than half a century later, the FDA still insists there were only nine thalidomide drug trial victims in the United States. Greedy profit-seeking capital, inefficient supervision, and imperfect relevant laws jointly led to the tragedy of thalidomide. Reading and remembering this history can help us understand the necessity of drug clinical trials and safety supervision and avoid the recurrence of tragedies.
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