“A shocking saga of pharmaceutical malpractice . . . Wonder Drug is both a first-rate medical thriller and the searing account of a forgotten American tragedy.”—Patrick Radden Keefe, author of Empire of Pain 

A “fascinating and compassionate” (People) account of the most notorious drug of the twentieth century and the never-before-told story of its American survivors.

Longlisted for the Andrew Carnegie Medal

In 1959, a Cincinnati pharmaceutical firm, the William S. Merrell Company, quietly began distributing samples of an exciting new wonder drug already popular around the world. Touted as a sedative without risks, thalidomide was handed out freely, under the guise of clinical trials, by doctors who believed approval by the Food and Drug Administration was imminent.

But as soon as the application for thalidomide landed on Frances Kelsey’s desk at the FDA in 1960, she grew suspicious of the paperwork.  When Kelsey then learned that the drug was causing severe birth abnormalities abroad, she and a team of dedicated doctors, parents, and journalists fought tirelessly to block its authorization in the United States and stop its global sales.

Jennifer Vanderbes set out to write about this FDA success story only to discover a sinister truth that had been buried for decades: For over five years, several American pharmaceutical firms had widely distributed thalidomide samples, reaching tens of thousands of unwitting patients, including hundreds of pregnant women. What’s more, the German pharmaceutical firm that had first patented the drug was founded by former Nazis. As Vanderbes examined archives, probed court records, and interviewed hundreds of key players, she unearthed an even more stunning find: Scores of Americans had likely been harmed by the drug. Deceived by the pharmaceutical firms, betrayed by doctors, and ignored by the government, most of these Americans had spent their lives unaware that thalidomide had caused their birth abnormalities.

Now, for the first time, this shocking episode in American history is brought to light. Wonder Drug gives voice to the unrecognized victims of this epic scandal and exposes the deceptive practices of Big Pharma that continue to endanger lives today.
 
Contributor Bio(s)
 
Jennifer Vanderbes is a novelist, journalist, and screenwriter whose work has been translated into sixteen languages. Her writing has appeared in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, The Atlantic, Granta, and Best New American Voices. She is the recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship and was named an NEH Public Scholar for her work on Wonder Drug.