Radioactive Prenatal Drinks
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After the bombs hit Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the government decided to take a closer look at the effects of radiation. Radiation, by this time, was known to be dangerous but no one really knew how much radiation would affect a person. So, they decided to find out.
Government officials gave pregnant women “vitamin drinks” that were filled with radioactive chemicals in the late 1940s. 829 women were involved in the experiments. At least 7 babies died in utero. Many more died of childhood leukemia and other radiation-related complications.
The women themselves weren’t much better off; they started to get cancer and radiation poisoning as well.
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