1961: Thalidomide

February 22, 2021

By AHNZ

The Department of Health reported that thalidomide was added to the drug tariff in 1961. It was an exciting new drug for the first wave of pregnant Boomers to help remedy morning sickness. Boomers like their quick-fixes and tech solutions to suffering so proceeded to lap thalidomide up. They would soon find out it was deadly.

The drug was widely marketed as ‘completely non-poisonous’, ‘safe’, ‘non-toxic’ and ‘fully harmless’. Turned out that thalidomide deformed 60% of babies born under its influence and killed the rest before they made it to a year old. This became apparent in the same year of release so the drug was recalled on 4 December 1961.

“After publication of adverse effects of the drug, manufacturers on 4 December 1961 recalled the drug in New Zealand. Nevertheless, it took the Department of Health until July 27, 1962 – almost eight months – to issue an official a directive to destroy remaining stocks of the drug. It was still available until at least August 1962 when it was seized from chemists’ and hospital shelves under section 12 of the Food and Drugs Act.”- Klausen (2016)

Nevertheless it took National 2.0’s Department of Health another eight months to perform the responsibility they had taken upon themselves as political masters of medicine. On 27 July, 1962, Norman Shelton’s (image right) Health Ministry finally ordered stocks of the poison to be removed from shelves and destroyed. When seconds count, the government is only months away!

This became a crisis until mid-1962 for expectant mothers nationwide who were anxious about the children they were carrying.

It was at this point that New Zealand’s fertility started to drop through the floor of the replacement rate for our population. Boomers instead became quite self-absorbed and it wasn’t until the early 80s that it became popular to create families. All of a sudden children became the new must-have status item and the Boomers were a generation that coddled and pampered their little Millennial spawn to levels hitherto unimagined.

“Boomers were late in having children, preferring to lavish their great fortune upon themselves.”- Growing up Millennial, AHNZ

Ironic then, isn’t it, that the Millennials in charge of New Zealand are now preparing to dose the population with masses of COVID-19 vaccinations. And, with less reason than the mothers who had a real complaint to ease. Rest assured, they will be telling us that their vax is ‘completely non-poisonous’, ‘safe’, ‘non-toxic’ and ‘fully harmless’. Just like thalidomide was, until it wasn’t.

The Kiwis of 1961 learned a hard lesson about new drug caution which is responsible for creating the Millennials as they are today. Those Millennials are quite content, in 2021, to open up Pandora’s pill box on your behalf. Are they ready for another lesson?

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Ref. Chemical legacies: Thalidomide in New Zealand, Klausen (2016); Corpus.nz

Image ref. Some of the forms the drug was distributed under in NZ; The Sixties at 50

Image ref. Norman Shelton, National 2.0’s presiding Minister of Health; Wiki

Image ref. NZ fertility rates, modified by AHNZ to highlight the Thalidomide year; New Zealand’s birthrate hits a new low, Stuff

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