A história da talidomida no Brasil e a trajetória para conquista de direitos das pessoas com a Síndrome teratogênica.

Abstract

This research analyzes aspects of the fight for rights path for people with disabilities affected by the thalidomide syndrome in Brazil, discussing the events around what is known as the "first generation of thalidomide". The thesis defended here is that of invisibility and absent citizenship: those born in this first generation, between 1959 and 1964, experienced an almost total absence of rights and assistance for nearly two decades. Both political and cultural factors are cited as causes for this: the "tragic" events of drug iatrogeny occurred on the eve of the military dictatorship, which ended only in 1984; and the biomedical understanding of disability that permeated the whole period was hegemonic and made the body with impairments only the target of physical intervention for the purpose of rehabilitation. Documentary research was carried out, of an empirical and qualitative nature, based on a variety of sources, mainly in print and legal documents, as well as federal legislative documents and interviews. From the theoretical contribution of Disability Studies, reflections on risk society and rights considerations, it is concluded that, in Brazil, the citizenship of those affected by the thalidomide syndrome was limited because it was supported essentially by the values of biomedicine, and as a consequence, their rights have been insufficient. Thus, new demands mobilized the people with the thalidomide syndrome themselves for the struggle for recognition and for more rights, a struggle that seems to have no end.