Can anyone give me an example of a mistake made by scientists?

Question

For my homework i have to research a mistake made by scientists, the consequences of that mistake, why they made it and how it could have been prevented. Something like a drug which seems to help but instead ends up in severe side effects such as disabilites.

Please can you give me as much detail as possible.

Thanks

Answer 1

From 1956 to 1962, approximately 10,000 children were born with severe malformities, because their mothers had taken thalidomide during pregnancy for morning sickness.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thalidomide

Answer 2

Last year six men took part in a drugs trial at Northwick park hospital. They were testing a drug called TGN 1412, that was meant to help treat arthritis, and lukaemia. They all suffered multiple organ failure after the drug sent their immune system into overdrive, and were taken into intensive care. THey were critically ill. The men, a year later, are now at serious risk of developing a series of diseases associated with the effects of that drug, such as cancer. Also, one man had his fingers and toes amputated.

A few years ago in 2005 a diabetic called Rene Anderson developed mental health problems and later died after taking part in trials of a cannabis based drug. This drug now has a license in Canada for multiple scerosis patients.

basically, there are several drug trials that have gone very wrong, and usually this is because dosages are not properly calculated, or administered, or because tests on animals and human cells have not shown results linked to what actually happens. Also, sometimes the scientists are to blame for not properly researching the drugs they are administering, for example, they already knew cannabis has more effect on diabetics than other people, and yet they still gave it to this diabetic woman.

Answer 3

One of the most publicised drug errors of modern times happened in the 1960s.A drug called Thalidomide was given to pregnant women to ease the discomfort of morning sickness.Sadly as a result several babies were born either minus a limb, or with deformed limbs.I guess the reason for the terrible consequences was inefficient testing.
On a lighter note hundreds of years ago so-called experts said that the world was flat and that if you stood at one end you would fall off.! Good luck with your studies.

Answer 4

This might not be exactly what you're looking for, but Thomas Midgley was responsible for adding lead to petrol, and CFCs.

"Two of the greatest environmental threats of the twentieth century - leaded gas and freon - were the work of a single man named Thomas Midgley. Because of these two inventions, a historian described Midgley as having "had more impact on the atmosphere than any other single organism in earth history."

http://www.engineerguy.com/comm/3922.htm

Answer 5

You could do something on the whole Vioxx fiasco. Or maybe electroshock therapy.

We see the most mistakes in science when things aren't researched fully and when these incomplete findings are applied to humans.

Answer 6

I can't remember the name of the drug that they were giving to women years ago, whilst they were pregnant. All the babies came out with short limbs caused by the drugs. It was a big news story!! If i think of the name i'll get back to you.

Answer 7

cold fusion
Fleischmann and Pons 2 very respected scientists thought they had perfected a method of cold fusion. and reported it to the scientific press some people could not repeat their findings.

Chernobyl disaster was caused by experiment gone wrong

Answer 8

NASA lost a couple of craft due to errors. One of which I believe involved using the wrong conversion between metric and standard units...


Tacoma Narrows Bridge failure.....


http://www.manhattan-institute.org/html/_nypost-40_million.htm

Answer 9

misplacing a decimal point on the amount of iron in spinach...thus creating the perception that it was a super food...i.e. pop eye....scientists coming out with a connection between the MMR vaccine and autism which has been proven wrong by many many studies. (actually resulted in decrease vaccinations and the death of quite a few children in england from measles) , the doctor who originally published the paper in a medical journal in england was later found to have no basis and was in fact being funded by a lawyer representing families with autistitc children ( he was paid around 250 k american dollars)

Answer 10

There is a book and film made after the book called Awakenings. it is the story of L-dopa, a drug now used in the managment of Parkinson's disease.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Awakenings
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/L-DOPA#Melanin_formation