Author(s): Rock Brynner

Popular Science

"A thoughtful account of the rise, fall, and subsequent rise again of thalidomide's fortunes."-Richard Horton, editor of The Lancet, in The New York Review of Books. In this riveting medical detective story, Trent Stephens and Rock Brynner recount the history of thalidomide, from the epidemic of birth defects in the 1960's to the present day, as scientists work to create and test an alternative drug that captures thalidomide's curative properties without its cruel side effects. A parable about compassion-and the absence of it-Dark Remedy is a gripping account of thalidomide's extraordinary impact on the lives of individuals and nations over half a century.