Podcast
Behind the Bastards
The book 'Silent Shock' was referenced as a source of information regarding the Nazi doctors hired by Grunenthal and the development of thalidomide, highlighting the dark history of the company and its connection to the Holocaust.
Dr. Heinz Baumkotter was a notorious SS doctor at the Sachsenhausen concentration camp outside Berlin in addition to overseeing executions and selecting prisoners for the gas chamber. He conducted exp...
— Episode: Let's Talk About Thalidomide
Episode: Let's Talk About Thalidomide
The book 'Silent Shock' was referenced as a source of information regarding the Nazi doctors hired by Grunenthal and the development of thalidomide, highlighting the dark history of the company and its connection to the Holocaust.
Dr. Heinz Baumkotter was a notorious SS doctor at the Sachsenhausen concentration camp outside Berlin in addition to overseeing executions and selecting prisoners for the gas chamber. He conducted experiments with injections explosives and chemicals.
One such experiment saw prisoners strapped down and burned with phosphorus so that Baumkotter could test an experimental salve.
Another doctor's wife had a baby with shortened arms after her husband was told by Grunenthal that the medication would be perfectly safe if Taken during pregnancy later the woman pressed for a divorce accusing her doctor husband of having been too gullible in Munich
Mrs. H fell pregnant in October 1960 and her husband a general physician Asked a Grunenthal sales rep if he could safely give his wife contragand their response was boilerplate boilerplate contragand is totally non-dangerous and frequently prescribed especially during pregnancies in July 1961
Mrs. H gave birth to a severely malformed baby Her general practitioner husband believed contragand was to blame when he spoke with a prosecutor in 1963 He said he had thought he made his suspicions clear to a Grunenthal sales rep after the July 1961 birth But could not recall the reps name