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The Saga of Thalidomide

1962; Massachusetts Medical Society; Volume: 267; Issue: 23 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1056/nejm196212062672305

1533-4406

Gilbert W. Mellin, Michael Katzenstein,

Medical History and Research

THE Fetal Life Study received an inquiry early in 1962 concerning the incidence of phocomelia in relation to a recent increase that had been observed in West Germany. The Fetal Life Study1 , 2 was established in 1946 in a selected population at the Columbia–Presbyterian Medical Center as a long-term prospective epidemiologic investigation of human reproduction, to determine the incidence of fetal deaths, neonatal deaths and congenital malformations and to delineate associated factors. From more than 10,000 pregnancies prospectively followed in the years 1946 to 1960, and more than 2000 followed in 1961, we were unable to find any cases of phocomelia . . .