In 1961 an Australian doctor.William McBride,noticed a sudden increase in the number of babies being born with one or more limbs missing.He realized that all their mothers had taken the same drug during pregnancy,and he alerted the medical world. The drug,thalidomide,had been used since the late 1950s to combat nausea during pregnancy.When it's catastrophic effects were realized -40% of affected children died in their first year-it was withdrawn from use.