Thalidomide is a drug which used to be given to pregnant women, before it was discovered that it resulted in babies being born with arms and legs that had not developed properly.
2. adjective [ADJECTIVE noun]
Thalidomide is used to describe someone whose arms and legs are wrongly shaped because their mother took thalidomide when she was pregnant.
...the special needs of thalidomide children.
thalidomide in British English
(θəˈlɪdəˌmaɪd)
noun
a synthetic drug formerly used as a sedative and hypnotic but withdrawn from the market when found to cause abnormalities in developing fetuses. Formula: C13H10N2O4
Word origin
C20: from thallic + -id- (from imide) + imide
thalidomide in American English
(θəˈlɪdəˌmaɪd)
noun
a crystalline solid, C13H10N2O4, formerly used as a sedative and hypnotic: found to be responsible for severe birth deformities when taken during pregnancy
This is the first time the British government has publicly put pressure on Germany to honour their obligations to the victims of thalidomide.
Times, Sunday Times (2016)
Other thalidomide victims are also finding life increasingly difficult.
Times, Sunday Times (2009)
The most moving scenes in the film feature thalidomide survivors.
Times, Sunday Times (2016)
Many younger people have no idea how thalidomide caused these birth defects.
Times, Sunday Times (2011)
His company no longer makes thalidomide but the drug is still in use in the fight against leprosy.
Times, Sunday Times (2007)
Your ongoing role in bringing to light the gross injustice applied to the survivors of the thalidomide scandal is to be applauded.
Times, Sunday Times (2012)
We expect other governments to talk to the Spanish government about their shameful attitude to thalidomide victims.
Times, Sunday Times (2014)
She's a partially blind and deaf thalidomide victim awaiting spinal surgery.
The Sun (2013)
Her case is one of the most distressing taken up by campaigners who want the government to provide financial assistance to thalidomide victims.
Times, Sunday Times (2009)
The action is thought to be the first of its kind since the thalidomide scandal in the Sixties.
Times, Sunday Times (2009)
Living in poverty is a constant threat for those who were victims of the antenatal drug thalidomide in Spain.
Times, Sunday Times (2009)
As one campaigner says in the film, the thalidomide scandal is no longer as well known as it should be.
Times, Sunday Times (2016)
There's also the whole thalidomide scandal, and just not knowing as much.
The Sun (2016)
Swedish and Canadian thalidomide victims have received large one-off lump sums from their governments.
Times, Sunday Times (2009)
The Government announced details of a 20 million support package to help thalidomide survivors.
Times, Sunday Times (2009)
If you are a thalidomide victim people want to look, but they don't really want to look.
Times, Sunday Times (2012)
THE government is proposing a multi-million-pound settlement for the surviving victims of thalidomide in an attempt to lay to rest the longrunning drug scandal.
Times, Sunday Times (2009)
A system for reporting side-effects was set up in the 1960s after the thalidomide scandal.
Times, Sunday Times (2014)
It took half a century for the inventor of thalidomide, the drug which blighted so many lives, to make its partial apology last week.