Book cover of Wonder Drug: The Hidden Victims of America's Secret Thalidomide Scandal

Book description

Longlisted for the Andrew 2024 Carnegie Medal for Non-Fiction

The shocking, never-before-told story of America's thalidomide victims

In Germany on Christmas Day 1956 a baby girl was born without ears. She was the first victim of the notorious thalidomide epidemic. There would be over 10,000 more across 46 countries.

For…

When you buy books, we may earn a commission that helps keep our lights on (or join the rebellion as a member).

Why read it?

2 authors picked Wonder Drug as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

This remarkable story illustrates that if something in healthcare sounds too good to be true, it probably is. I had to stop listening to it before going to sleep because the compelling narrative was keeping me up at night.

The author seamlessly combined this compelling narrative with exceptional research behind the Food and Drug Administration, the heroine who prevented thalidomide approval in the United States, and the catastrophic effects of a pharmaceutical company using loopholes.

Wonder Drug covers the startling untold story of Thalidomide, a sleeping pill, in the USA.

The standard story is that the tenacity of two women Frances Kelsey and Helen Taussig supposedly kept this drug that caused horrific birth defects off the market. The facts are that drug company machinations and FDA incompetence meant thousands of pregnant women had this drug and hundreds of babies were deformed and disappeared.

Kelsey and Taussig had a token triumph, but the company escaped blame, FDA bureaucracy increased dramatically in size, and the bureaucrats seem as tightly enmeshed with companies now as they were in…

If you love Wonder Drug...

Ad

Book cover of The High House

The High House by James Stoddard,

The Victorian mansion, Evenmere, is the mechanism that runs the universe.

The lamps must be lit, or the stars die. The clocks must be wound, or Time ceases. The Balance between Order and Chaos must be preserved, or Existence crumbles.

Appointed the Steward of Evenmere, Carter Anderson must learn the…

Want books like Wonder Drug?

Our community of 12,000+ authors has personally recommended 99 books like Wonder Drug.

Browse books like Wonder Drug

Book cover of Medical Apartheid: The Dark History of Medical Experimentation on Black Americans from Colonial Times to the Present
Book cover of The Butchering Art: Joseph Lister's Quest to Transform the Grisly World of Victorian Medicine
Book cover of You Bet Your Life: From Blood Transfusions to Mass Vaccination, the Long and Risky History of Medical Innovation

Share your top 3 reads of 2025!

And get a beautiful page showing off your 3 favorite reads.

1,210

readers submitted
so far, will you?

Ad

📚 If you like Wonder Drug, you might also like...

Book cover of Aggressor

Aggressor by FX Holden,

It is April 1st, 2038. Day 60 of China's blockade of the rebel island of Taiwan.

The US government has agreed to provide Taiwan with a weapons system so advanced that it can disrupt the balance of power in the region. But what pilot would be crazy enough to run…

Book cover of The Duke's Christmas Redemption

The Duke's Christmas Redemption by Arietta Richmond,

A Duke who has rejected love, a Lady who dreams of a love match, an arranged marriage, a house full of secrets, a most unneighborly neighbor, a plot to destroy reputations, an unexpected love that redeems it all.

Lady Charlotte Wyndham, given in an arranged marriage to a man she…

5 book lists we think you will like!