Goiânia Accident – 1987

10 years ago

Nothing goes to waste where people are living on the breadline, and few opportunities to make a little extra money…

AIDS Pandemic – 1980 to present

10 years ago

It is difficult to pinpoint exactly when the AIDS epidemic began. The first death assumed to be caused by Acquired…

Spanish Toxic Oil Syndrome – 1981

10 years ago

It started with the death of eight-year-old Jaime Garcia in his mother’s arms on the way to hospital. When doctors…

Tainted Blood on the NHS – 1973

10 years ago

Described as ‘the worst treatment disaster in the history of the NHS’, the tainted ‘Hemofil’ blood product that was used…

Iraqi Seed Grain Poisoning – 1971-1972

10 years ago

After a series of disastrous harvests in the late 1960s, Saddam Hussein applied for an aid shipment of 90,000 tons…

Thalidomide – 1959-1969

10 years ago

Images of the effects of Thalidomide are firmly etched into the public consciousness. What was originally seen as a safe…

The Cutter Incident – 1955

10 years ago

Poliomyelitis is a peculiarly nasty, highly contagious disease of the central nervous system that all too often leaves its victims…

Minamata Disease – 1932-1968

10 years ago

Doctors first noticed something strange in the Japanese coastal town of Minimata towards the end of April 1956. Patients were…

Jamaica Ginger (Ginger Jake) – 1920 and onwards

10 years ago

It goes by the name of ‘potcheen’ in Ireland, ‘hooch’ or ‘moonshine’ in North America and batti sarai in India.…

Sleeping Sickness Epidemic – 1915-1928

10 years ago

The ‘sleeping’ or ‘sleepy’ sickness that swept the world in the 1920s had nothing in common with the tropical disease.…