Thalidomide, which was aggressively marketed as a totally safe and effective treatment for morning sickness in early pregnancy, ultimately took its place as the drug that caused “the largest man‐made medical disaster in history.” Patented in 1954, thalidomide was initially approved as the first non-addicting, non-barbiturate sedative and was used as a treatment for respiratory infections. Once it became clear that it also relieved nausea and vomiting in pregnant women, the drug quickly grew in popularity.
DES (diethylstilbestrol) is a synthetic estrogen that was given to pregnant women from 1940 through the early 1970s. DES was touted as a “wonder drug” that would prevent miscarriage and morning sickness. It was only after millions of women and fetuses were exposed to DES that it was recognized that DES was causing deadly cancers in both the women who…
The journal Cancer last month published a study that looked at mortality data gathered by the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) between 2000 and 2012, and then applied new parameters to re-calculate the reported death statistics from cervical cancer in the United States. The study’s authors acknowledged that previously…
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), cesarean section (C-section) births are on the rise in wealthy nations. In 1965, the U.S cesarean birth rate was 4.5 percent.2 Since then, the national cesarean birth rate has increased seven-fold. In 2009, the rate peaked to 32.9 percent and dropped slightly to 32.2 percent in 2014.2 Currently, one in three women give birth via C-section…
Part of a new study recently published as an article in the British medical journal, The Lancet, finds that the maternal mortality rate (MMR) in the United States has gone up by 64 percent since 1990 and is now higher than most “high-income” countries. Part of a new study recently published as an article in the British medical journal, The Lancet, finds…
