"Risk-free rest and sleep:" Jornal do Médico (Portugal) and the thalidomide disaster, 1960-1962. / "Descansar e dormir sem riscos": o Jornal do Médico (Portugal) e o desastre da talidomida, 1960-1962.

This article analyzes the way the Porto-based journal Jornal do Médico reported on the thalidomide disaster. The pages of the publication are researched from the beginning of 1960 to the end of 1962 with the aim of identifying and discussing two interconnected questions: the delay in publishing news on the harmful effects of the drug, which was sold in the country under the brand name Softenon®, and the discursive construction of a lack of accountability on the part of physicians for the phenomenon of medication iatrogenesis.

O artigo analisa como o periódico Jornal do Médico, editado na cidade do Porto, em Portugal, divulgou o desastre da talidomida. A pesquisa percorreu as páginas da fonte desde o início de 1960 até o final de 1962. Aqui, objetivam-se apontar e discutir duas questões interligadas: a morosidade em publicar matérias sobre os efeitos deletérios do medicamento, vendido no país sob a denominação Softenon®, e a construção discursiva da isenção da responsabilidade do médico no fenômeno da iatrogenia medicamentosa.

"Descansar e dormir sem riscos": o Jornal do Médico (Portugal) e o desastre da talidomida, 1960-1962 / "Risk-free rest and sleep: " Jornal do Médico (Portugal) and the thalidomide disaster, 1960-1962

Resumo O artigo analisa como o periódico Jornal do Médico, editado na cidade do Porto, em Portugal, divulgou o desastre da talidomida. A pesquisa percorreu as páginas da fonte desde o início de 1960 até o final de 1962. Aqui, objetivam-se apontar e discutir duas questões interligadas: a morosidade em publicar matérias sobre os efeitos deletérios do medicamento, vendido no país sob a denominação Softenon®, e a construção discursiva da isenção da responsabilidade do médico no fenômeno da iatrogenia medicamentosa.

Abstract This article analyzes the way the Porto-based journal Jornal do Médico reported on the thalidomide disaster. The pages of the publication are researched from the beginning of 1960 to the end of 1962 with the aim of identifying and discussing two interconnected questions: the delay in publishing news on the harmful effects of the drug, which was sold in the country under the brand name Softenon®, and the discursive construction of a lack of accountability on the part of physicians for the phenomenon of medication iatrogenesis.

[Not Available]. / Un médicament "monstrueux": débats publics et couverture médiatique de la tragédie de la thalidomide au Canada, 1961-1963.

This article focuses on the thalidomide tragedy that occurred in Canada in 1962. Through the study of various primary sources, including letters sent by citizens to the federal Minister of Health and newspaper coverage of the tragedy, we provide an analysis of the public debates provoked by babies born with phocomelia in order to better assess the conception Quebec and Canadian societies had of disabled persons at the beginning of the 1960s. Inspired by the French philosopher Marie-Claire Cagnolo's classification scheme of the "logics" that characterized the treatment of disabled persons through history, the study concludes that a "separatist logic of elimination" clearly arose, while a "paternalistic logic of reparation" also began to appear. A "societal logic of integration", however, did not emerge, as concern was limited to the fate of thalidomide babies, rather than that of all disabled children.

'Something there is that doesn't love a wall': histories of the placental barrier.

This article appraises the late twentieth century maxim that prior to thalidomide's clarion call in 1961, a generic "we" believed that the fetus was protected from external insult by the placental barrier. Complicating this truism, we demonstrate that the placenta was, since early in the twentieth century, conceived of as a site of constant passage of entities both necessary to, and dangerous for, fetal development. Moving between evidence from specialist journals, obstetrics textbooks, and pregnancy advice manuals, we argue that the placental barrier writ large only emerged as an explicit actor after the medical community was disillusioned with it: it became something that does not exist. The article proposes that the nostalgia for a barrier lost constructs the modern-day fetus as more exposed and vulnerable than if "we" had never imagined this protection in the first place. The rhetorical shorthand of the erstwhile placental barrier has both deflected more nuanced accounts of the thalidomide story and contributed to the increasing surveillance of pregnant women's behavior, particularly in late twentieth century North America.

Estimating historic exposures at the European Gaseous Diffusion plants.

This paper describes the methods and results of an occupational exposure assessment covering 30 years of operation of the EURODIF establishment (1978-2008). The exposure assessment includes radiological, physical and chemical hazards, and takes into account of organizational changes at the establishment. Furthermore, it includes efforts to better quantify the levels of exposures using available industrial hygiene and health physics data. In total, 227 workers participated in the assessment of 26 different occupational exposures in 102 general workstations through 1978-2008. Only 7% of exposure levels were rectified by experts for internal consistency reasons. Noise, heat, trichloroethylene and soluble uranium compounds were the most prevalent exposures at the plant although their levels tended to decrease across time. Assessments of occupational exposure to noise based on JEM exposure levels were fairly well correlated with noise measurement data (Spearman's correlation coefficient, ρ=0.43) while JEM-based assessments of uranium exposure were not well correlated with uranium atmospheric measurements. This study demonstrates the importance of non-radiological exposure in the nuclear fuel industry and highlights the difficulties in managing the risks arising from these exposures. Occupational exposures remain difficult to quantify due to the scarcity of reliable monitoring data and the absence of binding occupational exposure limits for some of considered hazards.

Talidomida: 50 años después / The thalidomide experience: review of its effects 50 years later

Este año es el 50° aniversario del descubrimiento del efecto teratogénico de la talidomida, y aunque se conocen otros fármacos teratogénicos, la talidomida sigue preocupando a profesionales sanitarios y población general. Sin embargo, y junto con la tragedia humana que causó, ese descubrimiento supuso también el inicio de la investigación sobre las malformaciones congénitas y sus causas. Los objetivos son exponer lo que fue el efecto real de la talidomida y los momentos del embarazo en los que supone un riesgo, así como las consecuencias que tuvo su descubrimiento. Además, se realiza por primera vez un análisis para determinar los tipos de malformaciones que realmente produjo la talidomida. Para ello, se comparan las proporciones de 13 grupos de malformaciones de extremidades observadas en las series de niños expuestos prenatalmente a talidomida de la literatura médica, frente a las de esos mismos 13 grupos en los 1.491 niños recién nacidos con malformaciones de extremidades del registro del ECEMC (Estudio Colaborativo Español de Malformaciones Congénitas) no expuestos al fármaco. Los resultados muestran que los defectos, y su forma de presentación más característica de la talidomida (focomelia, ausencia/hipoplasia del pulgar), son significativamente más frecuentes entre los casos de niños expuestos de la literatura médica que entre los del ECEMC. Por el contrario, la afectación sólo de los miembros inferiores es 3 veces menos frecuente en los niños expuestos a talidomida que en no expuestos del ECEMC. Otros grupos de defectos muestran la misma frecuencia en todas las series comparadas, lo que documenta que, como para todos los teratógenos que hoy se conocen, no en todos los niños con malformaciones expuestos a talidomida, estas fueron debidas al efecto del fármaco. Por tanto, si una mujer embarazada utiliza un fármaco de riesgo para el desarrollo embrionario, no necesariamente el hijo tendrá malformaciones. Finalmente, se muestra la gran paradoja de este «temido» fármaco, que causó un drama humano produciendo malformaciones en casi 10.000 niños y que, por otra parte, ha supuesto una formidable contribución al desarrollo del conocimiento científico y terapéutico (AU)

[The thalidomide experience: review of its effects 50 years later]. / Talidomida: 50 años después.

This year is the 50(th) anniversary of the discovery that the drug thalidomide causes birth defects and should therefore be considered as a teratogen. However, despite the existence of several other drugs that are also human teratogens, thalidomide continues to cause concern among health professionals as well as the general population. The objectives of this article are to make a short historical review of the discovery that this drug severely alters the embryo development, the critical period of gestation and the identification of the real effect of thalidomide. For the first time an analysis is provided to identify the type of malformations for which thalidomide really increases the risk. The proportions of the different types of malformations groups from the series of patients considered to be affected by thalidomide from the literature were compared with the proportions of the same malformations groups in non-exposed infants from the Spanish Collaborative Study of Congenital Malformation (ECEMC). The aim of the analysis was to calculate the relative frequencies of 13 groups of malformations observed in series of patients exposed to thalidomide, by comparison with the same groups of defects in 1,491 patients with limb malformations from the ECEMC consecutive newborn infants, non-exposed to thalidomide. The results showed that the groups with the most classical limb malformations attributed to thalidomide (phocomelia, thumb absence/hypoplasia) had a significantly very higher frequency in exposed cases than in the ECEMC's cases. However, cases presenting with only lower limb malformations were 3 times less frequent in thalidomide cases than in those of ECEMC. Finally, other groups presented the same frequency as those observed in the ECEMC's cases. The results of the 2 last groups, strongly suggests that they were not due to the effect of thalidomide. In addition to the short historical review of the teratogenicity risk of thalidomide, and their new therapeutic properties, it is documented that, as it happens with all other currently known human teratogens, not all malformations observed in infants prenatally exposed to thalidomide were caused by this drug. Finally, it is discussed the paradox that the «feared¼ thalidomide drug causing a great human drama affecting about 10,000 infants has led to a formidable contribution to the scientific knowledge, and large range of therapeutic applications.

[Thalidomide epidemics: 50 years after]. / Thalidomidová epidemie - 50 let poté

Thalidomide tragedy and the subsequent epidemics of congenital anomalies is one of the most tragic but also enlightening chapters in the history of modern medicine. Many thousands of children were born with various anomalies - especially with limb deformities - because of the mass usage of thalidomide by pregnant women. The numbers of the spontaneous abortions and fetal deaths will remain unknown forever. In year 2012 we have a sad 50th anniversary of final recognition of thalidomide teratogenous potential. The causes of this tragedy and subsequent actions are summarized in our text.Key words: thalidomide, teratogenesis, congenital anomalies.

An appreciation of Diether Neubert and Hans-Joachim Merker's contributions to Reproductive and Developmental Toxicology on their 80th birthday.

Diether Neubert, toxicologist, and Hans-Joachim Merker, histopathologist and embryologist, made significant contributions to the field of Developmental and Reproductive Toxicology. They worked under the same roof at the Institute of Toxicology and Embryopharmacology in Berlin, and actively collaborated with each other for over 25 years. Both scientists are now retired and turned 80 this year (2009). This celebratory article reports some remarkable events of their long and prolific scientific careers.

[Monsters of Phlegon--hermaphrodites, sex-changers and other strange beings in Phlegon's marvellous stories]. / Phlegón monstrumai--hermafroditák, nemváltoztatók es más csodalények Phlegón csodálatos történetek címu muvében.

The 1st-2nd century greek writer, Phlegon was a representative of the genre "paradoxography". In his book entitled Peri thaumasion (Book of wonders) he collected 35 extraordinary stories among which he described hermaphrodites, sex-changers and strange births. Phlegon's stories are only a part of the more than 79 ancient writings from Greek and Roman literature that describe children born with congenital defects. The article discusses the aspects of hermaphroditism in ancient times as well as ancient teratology. These stories might have had a core of truth. Although it is extremely difficult to identify a single potential cause for it, already ancient writers tried to give an explanation. With the help of modern teratology sciences many teratogenous causes can be partly identified. A part of the most probable factors among these were the same as today: malnutrition, viruses, alcohol, vitamin deficiencies etc., but lead poisoning has also be taken into account as a principal cause.