In the 1960s, the sedative thalidomide was widely popular as one of the only non-barbiturate, over-the-counter sleep-aids on the market. When doctors started noticing that it also helped alleviate morning sickness in pregnant women, many began recommending it to patients for this off-label use. What followed was a world-wide explosion in the numbers of children being born with phocomelia—shortened or absent limbs. Children whose mothers had been recommended thalidomide by their doctors.
