...that during the "Age of Heroic Medicine" (1780-1850), educated professional physicians aggressively practiced "heroic medicine", including
bloodletting (venesection), intestinal purging (
calomel), vomiting (tartar
emetic), profuse sweating (
diaphoretics) and
blistering? These medical treatments were well-intentioned, and often well-accepted by the medical community, but were actually harmful to the patient.
...thalidomide is a drug that was sold during the late
1950s and
1960s to pregnant women as an
antiemetic? It was later found to be
teratogenic, causing
amelia and
phocomelia. However, it is still used for other indications such as for
leprosy and
multiple myeloma, with close regulation through the System for Thalidomide Education and Prescribing Safety (STEPS) program.