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> That's like saying there's nothing wrong with giving thalidomide to pregnant women, because pregnant women have always taken herbal supplements. Your analog
by Gordonjcp 4y ago
> That's like saying there's nothing wrong with giving thalidomide to pregnant women, because pregnant women have always taken herbal supplements.
Your analogy is better than you think, because in fact there isn't anything wrong with giving pregnant women thalidomide at all!
You just have to not do it within a very carefully defined range of time within pregnancy, but before and after that it's as safe as milk.
Turns out, the same process that makes thalidomide horribly teratogenic also makes it an absolutely first-rate cancer drug with few side-effects even in pregnancy.
- n4r9 4y agoInteresting. I've looked for sources on that and found a couple of sites saying that the sensitive period is 20-37 days after conception, but come up short of studies on anything later. This webpage seems to suggest the risks are unknown after first trimester: https://mothertobaby.org/fact-sheets/thalidomide-pregnancy/ https://mothertobaby.org/fact-sheets/thalidomide-pregnancy/ Same from this university classroom material (p.2): https://www.urmc.rochester.edu/MediaLibraries/URMCMedia/life-sciences-learning-center/documents/Thalidomide_Cancer_Treatment.pdf https://www.urmc.rochester.edu/MediaLibraries/URMCMedia/life...