The Thalidomide Disaster and the Doctors Who Uncovered the Truth

The Thalidomide Disaster and the Doctors Who Uncovered the Truth

Author: The HISTORY® Channel | Back Pocket Studios December 8, 2025 Duration: 25:57
HISTORY This Week
HistoryCultureEducationSocietySociety & Culture
December 18, 1970. Decades after the end of WWII, a Nazi doctor is on trial. Today is judgment day in a long, difficult legal battle, but this case isn’t about war crimes. The German pharmaceutical company Grunenthal is charged with the worst medical disaster in history: the Thalidomide scandal. The shoddily tested and hastily approved drug made its way into medicine cabinets around the world, and a decade after its release, the reality is becoming clear: Thalidomide is killing babies. Who are the heroes who brought down Thalidomide? And how did this disaster change pharmaceutical regulations forever? Special thanks to our guest, Michael Magazanik, author of Silent Shock. ** This episode originally aired December 14, 2020. -- Get in touch: historythisweek@history.com  Follow on Instagram: @historythisweek Follow on Facebook: ⁠HISTORY This Week Podcast⁠ To stay updated: http://historythisweekpodcast.com To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This week, something big happened. You might have never heard of it, but this moment changed the course of history. A HISTORY Channel original podcast, HISTORY This Week gives you insight into the people—both famous and unknown—whose decisions reshaped the world we live in today. Through interviews with experts and eyewitnesses, each episode will give you a new perspective on how history is written. Stay up-to-date at historythisweekpodcast.com and to get in touch, email us at historythisweek@history.com.HISTORY This Week is a production of Back Pocket Studios in partnership with the History Channel.
Author: Language: English Episodes: 100

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