Thalidomide: Research advances in cancer and other conditions

QuebecCanadian

Electoral Member
Apr 13, 2014
502
0
16
Despite its history, thalidomide has proved effective in treating some diseases. Consider the benefits and risks of thalidomide to help you decide whether this drug may be right for you.

In the 1950s and the early 1960s, thalidomide was used to treat morning sickness during pregnancy. But it was found to cause severe birth defects.

Now, decades later, thalidomide is being used to treat a skin condition and cancer. It's being investigated as a treatment for many other disorders.

Thalidomide proves useful for skin lesions and multiple myeloma

Research into potential uses for thalidomide has determined that thalidomide may be an effective treatment for several conditions. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved thalidomide (Thalomid) for treating:

Skin lesions caused by leprosy (erythema nodosum leprosum)
Multiple myeloma
Areas of thalidomide research

Researchers continue to investigate thalidomide for use in treating a variety of diseases and conditions. Though more study is needed, thalidomide has shown promise in treating:

Inflammatory diseases that affect the skin, such as cutaneous lupus and Behcet's disease
HIV-related mouth and throat ulcers, as well as HIV-related weight loss and body wasting
Cancer, including blood and bone marrow cancers, such as leukemia and myelofibrosis, as well as cancers found elsewhere in the body

Thalidomide: Research advances in cancer and other conditions - Mayo Clinic

~

Useful for skin lesions?? It caused skin lesions! or more accurately the absence of skin....and bone! I would never, in a million years, want this stuff anywhere near me or anyone I love!
 

tay

Hall of Fame Member
May 20, 2012
11,548
0
36
Compensation cheques give thalidomide victims a new lease on life


The effect of Ottawa’s package is being felt across Canada, where survivors are investing in everything from home care to new homes. In La Pocatière, Que., the deal let Nelson Emond dream about a life beyond the walls of his semi-basement apartment that had limited him for eight years.

Mr. Emond’s mother took thalidomide after Ottawa approved the drug in 1961 on the faith of the manufacturer’s pitch that it was safe for pregnant women. Mr. Emond was among the babies born with rare and severe deformities, including missing limbs and internal organ damage. It was Canada’s most notorious drug scandal, and last year, Ottawa agreed to pay its victims single lump-sum payments of $125,000, along with pensions of $25,000 to $100,000 a year.

Mr. Emond, born with most of his legs missing, had been living in a 4 1/2-room rental apartment too cramped to accommodate his wheelchair. A positive, amiable man who worked in various jobs as long as he was able, had to manoeuvre around his apartment on his leg stumps, so worn that their tips had become dark and calloused. Every time Mr. Emond wanted to go outside – even to take out the garbage or pick up his mail – he had to pull on his artificial legs to climb the five steps out of his apartment.

In mid-May, Mr. Emond left the semi-basement for the last time. With the help of friends and family, he moved his belongings into a new single-family house a short drive away. It has a garage so Mr. Emond won’t have to depend on the goodwill of a stranger to dig out his car in winter, and a deck where he can breathe the outdoor air. Mr. Emond could not hide his excitement.

“I had always dreamed of having a house,” said Mr. Emond, who has also suffered thalidomide-induced damage to his eyes and partial paralysis to his face that gives it a mask-like appearance. “But if I could buy one now, it’s because of the federal funds. It’s changed the stakes completely. It’s giving me the freedom to do things I couldn’t before.”

His father, Albert, watched his son in the kitchen of the new home with a pinch of emotion. The parents of thalidomide babies saw their children overcome obstacle after obstacle through the years. Aging themselves, the parents view the federal settlement with a sense of deep relief.

“I’m 72 years old. Maybe I won’t have many years left to live,” the elder Mr. Emond said as a contractor took measurements of the bathtub to adapt it to his son’s needs. “I won’t die worrying whether or not he’ll have the money to look after himself. I know he’ll be protected for the rest of his life.”

The pain and confusion of the birth of Canada’s thalidomide babies in the early 1960s remains vivid for their parents, who had little support or information about what was, then, a shocking event. Until then, many never imagined that medicine could cause so much harm to an unborn child.

Mr. Emond gets tears in his eyes recalling the sacrifices to get his son cared for, how he sold his car to buy him prosthetics in the days before Medicare. In 1963, Canada’s health minister, Jay Waldo Monteith, vowed that Ottawa would care for the country’s thalidomide victims “in the best possible manner.” That promise was unfulfilled until last year. “Why did it take 50 years to recognize their mistakes?” Albert Emond asked.

In 1961, Paula Finlayson was a nurse in her early 20s working the night shift in an Edmonton hospital when, exhausted, she felt desperate to get some sleep. An intern offered her a new drug. “Take this, it’s a good sedative,” he said. Ms. Finlayson took a single tablet of thalidomide on each of the two nights remaining in her shift. She had no idea she was pregnant.

Her son, Brian, was born with shortened arms. “If I hadn’t done it, Brian would still have arms,” Ms. Finlayson, 76, said recently from Edmonton. “I still take personal responsibility for swallowing those two pills.” Like many other parents, she, too, survived the thalidomide tragedy in history’s shadow, carrying a lifelong burden for a fiasco caused by drug makers and government.

She plans to travel to the Ottawa-area gathering to meet other families touched by the tragedy, and mark the milestone of the government settlement, which she admits she never thought would come to pass. “It’s going to make such a difference in their lives,” she said.

No amount of compensation will rewrite the years of neglect for Canadians like Mr. Scheidt or Mr. Emond, but the new funds have offered a measure of comfort as they face an uncertain medical future. “It gave people peace of mind, a sense of security,” said Mercédes Benegbi, head of TVAC.

Compensation cheques give thalidomide victims a new lease on life - The Globe and Mail
 

Walter

Hall of Fame Member
Jan 28, 2007
34,843
92
48
In 1963, Canada’s health minister, Jay Waldo Monteith, vowed that Ottawa would care for the country’s thalidomide victims “in the best possible manner.” That promise was unfulfilled until last year. “Why did it take 50 years to recognize their mistakes?” Albert Emond asked.
But the gubmint promised. The left still believe all this pap from gubmint and want the gubmint to take more of our liberty away.
 

MHz

Time Out
Mar 16, 2007
41,030
43
48
Red Deer AB
50 years should prove that the Gov is there to protect big biz rather than protect the people who pay their salaries. The other topics that have taken as long (or longer) is also proof that they are a criminal organization most of the time.