Thalidomide to possibly return to Japan as blood cancer medication

Friday 19th September, 06:39 AM JST

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10 Comments

borscht at 08:24 AM JST - 19th September

If everything goes smoothly,

By "everything" I assume they mean the bribes and paperwork, not the health of the people who need blood cancer medication. If any country were to be wary of thalidomide it should be Japan. Where are the families of the thalidomide children? Too old or passed on, I suspect.

However, having said that, I'd be interested to see JT or Kyodo follow up on this article with another article on the tests done on humans using this drug. It could be quite valuable to cancer patients even if Kyodo insists on the scary approach. (Thalidomide! In a drug banned for 47 years!!)
electric2004 at 08:50 AM JST - 19th September

Hopefully Thalidomide is not relabeled and resold like the tainted rice.
beams at 08:53 AM JST - 19th September

Tests have already been carried out quite successfully in Japan. The drug is still used all over the world for various reasons and despite its reputation and past history, seems to be working.
Himajin at 09:44 AM JST - 19th September

It's a good drug as long as it isn't taken by pregnant women.
WilliB at 11:28 AM JST - 19th September

Every drug has dangers. The dangers with Thalidomide are now known, and it can be used properly. To ban the drug outright while it is useful for many cases is overkill.
dammit at 12:06 PM JST - 19th September

I remember being shocked when they said they'd use thalidomide again in the UK a few years ago. But whatever they're using it for, as long as the patient knows what the drug is and WHY it's ultra important that females using it don't become pregnant, and why all those using it should make sure no female who may be pregnant takes it accidentally, I suppose I have no right to complain. Maybe they can use the profits to help out the victims - I know that many thalidomide victims have found the effects can appear in their children too. The original compensation - at least in the UK - was only for a severely disabled child with a limited lifespan. No-one expected them to survive to adulthood, let alone have kids of their own. It seems they were shocked to find that shortened limbs don't kill you before puberty.
serindipity at 12:25 PM JST - 19th September

Yeah, this drug was the medical scandal of the sixties and early seventies with so many kids born deformities after their mothers were prescribed this for morning sickness. However, it is safe and beneficial to be used by non-pregnant women. Let's just pray it is only prescribed by ethical doctors.
Xennon at 04:34 PM JST - 19th September

I keep hearing "We Didn't Start the Fire" over and over in my head for some reason.
Farmboy at 06:01 PM JST - 19th September

I just read the in the US, there's an issue with drugs being dumped down the drain at hospitals, and showing up in the water supply. I hope this isn't the practice in Japan.
Notginger at 12:46 AM JST - 21st September

The birth defects were caused by the left-handed isomer of the drug. The right handed isomer is effective against morning sickness. At the time (the sixties) drug companies had managed to isolate the right handed isomer and so thought it was OK to administer as a drug. What they didn't realise (or profess not to have realised) is that even 100% of right handed isomer can spontaneously reconvert to left handed isomer in the human body.