# The Thalidomide Disaster and the Doctors Who Uncovered the Truth

An episode of [HISTORY This Week](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/podcast/1493453604), 8 Dec 2025, 23 min.

Audio: https://pdst.fm/e/tracking.swap.fm/track/v9Uiw3bGr54f6BVZKSyc/pscrb.fm/rss/p/serve.castfire.com/audio/8247255/8247255_2026-04-14-051055.192.mp3?rssID=6398

December 18, 1970. Decades after the end of WWII, a Nazi doctor is on trial. Today is judgment day in a long, difficult legal battle, but this case isn’t about war crimes. The German pharmaceutical company Grunenthal is charged with the worst medical disaster in history: the Thalidomide scandal. The shoddily tested and hastily approved drug made its way into medicine cabinets around the world, and a decade after its release, the reality is becoming clear: Thalidomide is killing babies. Who are the heroes who brought down Thalidomide? And how did this disaster change pharmaceutical regulations forever? Special thanks to our guest, Michael Magazanik, author of Silent Shock. ** This episode originally aired December 14, 2020. -- Get in touch: historythisweek@history.com Follow on Instagram: @historythisweek Follow on Facebook: HISTORY This Week Podcast To stay updated: http://historythisweekpodcast.com

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