Wonder Drug: A book talk on the history of Thalidomide with Jennifer Vanderbes, TD ‘96

In 1959, a Cincinnati pharmaceutical firm quietly began distributing samples of a new sedative, thalidomide, in the US which had already been causing severe birth abnormalities abroad, under the guise of clinical trials. In Wonder Drug, Jennifer Vanderbes examines government and corporate archives, probed court records, and interviewed key players to tell the story of  the unrecognized victims of an epic scandal and expose the deceptive practices of Big Pharma that continue to endanger lives today.

Jennifer Vanderbes is an award-winning novelist, journalist and screenwriter whose work has been translated into sixteen languages.  Her first non-fiction book, Wonder Drug: The Secret History of Thalidomide in America and Its Hidden Victims, was published by Random House and HarperCollins UK in June 2023, receiving early starred reviews from Publishers Weekly, Kirkus and Booklist. People Magazine called it "fascinating and compassionate" and Publishers Weekly called it "a deeply researched and chilling must-read."

 

This event is co-sponsored by the Yale Health Law and Policy Society (YHeLPS),  Program for Humanities in Medicine, Center for Excellence in Regulatory Science and Innovation, Program in the History of Science and Medicine, Yale Law Women+, Yale Collaboration for Regulatory Rigor, Integrity, and Transparency (CRRIT)