Horizon
Season 41 Episode 6 - Thalidomide - A Second Chance?
Thalidomide was one of the biggest medical tragedies of modern times. The images of children born with shrunken limbs still haunt anyone who sees them. And the tragedy is not over. Those children are adults today, still coping with their disability. For many, thalidomide is a drug that should be consigned to the dustbin of history - an awful cautionary tale of the errors that science can make. But now it is making a comeback - as a radical treatment for incurable blood cancers. But can it possibly be safe to use such a dangerous drug again? In a powerful and deeply moving film, Horizon tells the tale of thalidomide and how this drug that has become so infamous may now be giving hope to people who otherwise face death. It also explores the mystery at the heart of thalidomide. It seems that the reason why it works for cancer may at least partly explain something that has long baffled scientists - why thalidomide caused such terrible damage to babies in the womb all those years ago.
Episodes in Season 41
The Demonic Ape
60 min
The Moscow Theatre Siege
60 min
The Atkins Diet
60 min
Secrets of the Star Disc
60 min
The Dark Secret of Hendrik Schön
60 min
Thalidomide - A Second Chance?
60 min
Diamond Labs
60 min
T-Rex - Warrior or Wimp?
60 min
Project Poltergeist
60 min
The Truth of Troy
60 min
The Truth About Vitamins
60 min
King Solomon's Tablet of Stone
60 min
Derek Tastes of Earwax
60 min
What Really Killed the Dinosaurs?
60 min
Making Millions the Easy Way
60 min
Saturn - Lord of the Rings
60 min
The Hunt for the Supertwister
60 min
Dr Money and the Boy with No Penis
60 min
