It wasn’t until March 2, 1962 that the Canadian Food and Drug Directorate (FDD) withdrew Thalidomide from the market in Canada. But the FDD still didn’t press the issue with the appropriate urgency. Almost a month later, Canadian news magazine Maclean’s still found Thalidomide available in several pharmacies across the country.

It wasn’t till April 10th that Dr. C.A. Morrell, Director, Food and Drug Directorate wrote to Canadian physicians requesting samples be returned to supplier or destroyed.

Sources: Michael Magazanik: Silent Shock. The Men behind the Thalidomide Scandal and an Australian Family’s Long Road to Justice. Melbourne 2015, pp. 164f.

Winnipeg Free Press: Thalidomide Survivor Hopes Ongoing Help Around the Corner, November 28, 2014.

Thalidomide 50 (Web/BlogSpot) – Thalidomide News in the Media – Thalidomide in Canada 1961)