The Australian government will issue a formal apology to people affected by thalidomide.
- Thalidomide is the morning sickness drug that caused significant birth defects in babies during the 1950s and 1960s.
- Thalidomide was marketed as a sedative and anti-nausea drug for pregnant women in the 1950s, but caused birth defects including shortened or absent limbs, blindness, deafness or malformed internal organs.
- The drug was not tested on pregnant women before being approved, and the birth defect crisis led to greater medical oversight worldwide, including the creation of Australia’s Therapeutic Goods Administration.
- According to a report, worldwide, more than 10,000 children are estimated to have been born with birth defects because of thalidomide use, with an estimated 40% of these children dying within a year.
