File:William McBride.jpg

William McBride

(1927 - 2018) Dr McBride published in a letter in The Lancet (16 December 1961), only 3 paragraphs long, noting a large number of birth defects in children of patients who were prescribed the "morning sickness" drug, Thalidomide. The drug was first used in 1956 for treating influenza, then as a sedative, and subsequently for nausea and vomiting in pregnancy.

This association was independently confirmed in the same year in Germany by Widukind Lenz, a German paediatrician.

Links: Abnormal Development - Thalidomide

Thalidomide And Congenital Abnormalities

The Lancet (16 December 1961)

"SIR, - Congenital abnormalities are present in approximately 15% of babies. In recent months I have observed that the incidence of multiple severe abnormalities in babies delivered of women who were given the drug thalidomide (‘ Distaval ’) during pregnancy, as an anti-emetic or as a sedative, to be almost 20%.

These abnormalities are present in structures developed from mesenchyme - i.e., the bones and musculature of the gut. Bony development seems to be affected in a very striking manner, resulting in polydactyly, syndactyly, and failure of development of long bones (abnormally short femora and radii).

Have any of your readers seen similar abnormalities in babies delivered of women who have taken this drug during pregnancy ?"

Hurstville, New South Wales. W G MCBRIDE

Copyright © 1961 Published by Elsevier Ltd.

In 1981, Dr McBride attempted to show similar teratogenic effects of "Debendox", resulting in a case related to his falsification of data. The drug has since been shown as not associated with teratogenic effects. PMID 6789952

Links: Abnormal Development - Thalidomide

Reference

McBride WG. (1977). Thalidomide embryopathy. Teratology , 16, 79-82. PMID: 331548 DOI.

MCBRIDE WG. (1963). THE TERATOGENIC ACTION OF DRUGS. Med. J. Aust. , 2, 689-92. PMID: 14069005