50 years ago, a drug that crippled a generation found new life as a leprosy treatment
Excerpt from the July 19, 1969 issue of Science News
SECOND CHANCE Thalidomide, a sedative prescribed to pregnant women in the 1950s and early 1960s, was banned for causing severe birth defects such as malformed limbs. The drug found new life, though, as a leprosy treatment, and is still used today.
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Thalidomide helps severe cases —
The drug that was banned because of its crippling effect on babies when taken as a tranquilizer and sleeping pill by pregnant women is being studied for its use in Hansen’s disease, or leprosy.