In the first one, babies were born with severe deformities after their mothers took the drug. The second tragedy was more serious and damaging. Lawmakers used thalidomide as an excuse to pass legislation that would have done little or nothing to prevent the first tragedy but has led to six decades of lost lives. Those lives were lost because the legislation led to fewer beneficial drugs being developed and sold.
These are the two opening paragraphs of Charles L. Hooper and David R. Henderson, “Two Thalidomide Disasters.”