Access to Practical Nursing (APN) & Practical Nursing LibGuide 2025

The topic that we will be using for today's session is Thalidomide. 

Thalidomide was introduced in 1956 by the German pharmaceutical company Chëmie Grünenthal. The American pharmaceutical company Richard-Merrell marketed the drug in Canada under the name Kevadon. Because Canada lacked proper drug approval regulations, Richardson-Merrell distributed thalidomide samples to physicians known as ‘clinical investigators’ without any authorization or verification from the Canadian authorities.

In December 1961, the drug was taken off the German and British markets after doctors began to be concerned that thalidomide when taken by pregnant women, was responsible for severe birth defects.  

Canada followed suit in December 1962. Legislation was introduced in the form of An Act to Amend the Food and Drugs Act, which began the modernization of drug testing and approval in Canada.

As we will see through our research topic, Thalidomide, in combination with dexamethasone, can treat multiple myeloma and leprosy. Access is controlled through prescription in a highly controlled environment.

It wasn't until 2018 that the reason that the use of Thalidomide caused birth defects was identified. 

Who wrote or created the information?

If no author is listed, is an organization identified? If it is an organization you are unfamiliar with, remember to search for additional information on it, ask your professor, or ask a librarian. 

Do the author(s) provide their credentials? Are qualified the write on the topic?

Who is the intended audience? 

If a source does not have an author or editor, use the title as the first part of the citation. 

For both the reference list and in-text citations, use italics for titles.

The titles of articles, chapters, and web pages should be in regular font for the reference list but have quotation marks in the in-text citations. Longer titles can be shortened to just a few key words for an in-text citation.