How did thalidimide stop babies development and when they found out that it didn’t cure morning sickness why didn’t – Secondary 11

Question: How did thalidimide stop babies development and when they found out that it didn't cure morning sickness why didn't they stop selling it?
- Keywords:
  babies,
  cure,
  medicine,
  morning sickness,
  thalidimide
Asked by ells8 to clairemarieroberts, Faye, Martin, Mus, Pete on 25 Apr 2012.
- Pete Etchells answered on 25 Apr 2012:
  
  That’s a really thoughtful question, thanks ells8. Thalidomide was found to have painkilling and anti-throwing-up properties, so scientists in the 1950s thought it might be useful for morning sickness. At the time, they didn’t think that it would affect babies, because they thought it wouldn’t be able to get across a barrier between the mum and baby. The fact that it did meant that it stunt the babies growth (I’m not sure exactly how), causing them to develop something called ‘phocomelia’. They didn’t stop selling it straight away, mainly because it took a long time (over 10 years) for scientists to figure out that it was thalidomide that was causing the problems. As soon as they did, they stopped selling it.

Question: How did thalidimide stop babies development and when they found out that it didn't cure morning sickness why didn't they stop selling it?