Thalidomide scandal
Thalidomide was developed and first released by the German pharmaceutical company Chemie Grünenthal in 1953. The company had started as a soap maker after World War II to address the urgent market need for antibiotics. Chemist Heinrich Mückter, who was a known Nazi war criminal, was appointed to head the discovery programme based on his experience researching and producing an anti-typhus vaccine for Nazi Germany.