In August 1959 Dr. Consten, a medical doctor in Schwelm (a small town in North-Rhine Westphalia), informed Grünenthal about several cases of polyneuritis he witnessed with his patients. Dr. Conston believed the polyneuritis was caused by Contergan (Thalidomide).

Source: Anklageschrift (indictment) from 1967, today archived at the National Archives of North Rhine-Westphalia in Duisburg, Germany (Rheinland Division, Gerichte Rep. 139, No. 1–396), p. 75.