Happy birthday thalidomide.

Interesting documentary presented by actor/musician Mat Fraser, on the 50th anniversary of the discovery of the drug Thalidomide. Fraser, a victim of Thalidomide himself, gives us a brief history of the drug before travelling to Brazil, where Thalidomide has been in use since 1965 as a treatment for leprosy. We hear from second generation Thalidomide victims and their families about their lives, as well as a leprosy sufferer whose unbearably painful skin lesions have been relieved by taking Thalidomide. Although the Brazilian Government says that Thalidomide babies are no longer being born, Fraser and Claudia Maximino of the Brazilian Thalidomide Society investigate the case of a 3-year-old girl who seems to have Thalidomide characteristics. Brazilians are eligible for a pension if they can prove their disability is a result of their mother taking Thalidomide but in this case the mother is not aware of having taken the drug. Another distressing case is that of a deaf Thalidomide girl whose pension is supporting her entire family, while they don't seem to be bothered about communicating with her. She spends her days and nights watching television in the home paid for by her compensation while her alcoholic father is having a swimming pool built for himself on the roof. Back in England, Fraser talks to people whose cancer symptoms have been relieved by taking Thalidomide in medical trials. He concludes that it is hard for him to see Thalidomide as a 'wonder drug' and feels worried about the inevitable rush for profit. He ends with a plea directed to those prescribing and licensing the drug, saying 'you know what's at stake, and you have to get it right'.