To the Editor: Thalidomide (N-α-phthalimidoglutarimide) was first marketed as a sedative-hypnotic in 1957. It was withdrawn from the market in 1961 as it was found to cause congenital malformations.1 Infant mortality statistics in Germany for the years 1959 to 1963 show that about 40% of thalidomide-affected babies died in the neonatal period.2 The main causes of death were atresia of the bowel, renal dysgenesis and heart malformations.
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