Books About the Thalidomide Tragedy

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Books About the Thalidomide Tragedy

Many books include pieces of the International thalidomide story. Some of them state that thalidomide was never approved for sale in the United States. A few mention the samples that were distributed by doctors in the United States. Even those that acknowledge the children born to mothers who took the sample medication quote the inaccurate number of 17 babies.

Although none of the memoirs and historical books or articles published prior to 2023 reported the full story of US Thalidomide Survivors, they do provide a foundational understanding of the families, doctors and nurses affected by the International tragedy.

 

WONDER DRUG: The Secret History of Thalidomide in America and Its Hidden Victims

by Jennifer Vanderbes

From Random House: the award-winning investigative book about the thalidomide scandal of the 1960s

My Extraordinary Life

by Monica Sucha Vickers

(2019 reprinted from original release in 2013)

The Thalidomide Catastrophe

by Martin Johnson,
Raymond Stokes and
Tobias Arndt (2018)

Silent Shock

by Michael Magazanik
(2015)

 

 

Mermaid: A Memoir of Resistance

by Eileen Cronin
(2014) 

Unarmed But Dangerous

by Tawana Williams
(2005)