At the 16 week foetal stage, Paul Whymark’s braindevelopment was frozen as a consequence of the drug, Thalidomide. His journey is one ofconsiderable self discovery, but also reveals greater societal insights. “16 Weeks and Everything After...” uncoversthe remarkable fact that over the last 50-60 years the establishment has failedto genuinely independently review Thalidomide, and as aconsequence, harms on developing life continue to have the potential to occurinto the future. Worse is that the insidious nature of many of theunacknowledged harms of Thalidomide are stillnot related to the drug. Hence such consequences are unrecognised and are atodds with official and textbook accounts even over 50 years on. Therefore, aswell as appealing to general readers and other professionals, this bookurgently needs to be on every medical personnel’s (or trainee personnel’s)required reading list.

“16 Weeks andEverything After…” manages to communicate the minutia of subtle butall-important detail to uncover a quite different picture to that has beenreported thus far. It has been written in anuplifting and heart-warming way, with the attitude of turning negatives intopositives, but without losing sight of the underlying issues. The author hassought to stand up for his late mother, who like all mothers of children harmedby drugs consumed during pregnancy, carry the resulting additional challenges.This has sustained Paul’s drive through the years of both official impasse andlife’s ups and downs. The book comprises a set of micro-narratives, but jointogether to reveal a significant personal journey in addition to a much largerand wider untold picture.