On Wednesday, Australia apologized nationwide to those who had survived the thalidomide drug tragedy

In response to survivors of the thalidomide drug disaster, which Prime Minister Anthony Albanese referred to as one of the "darkest chapters" in the nation's medical history, Australia offered a national apology on Wednesday. In the 1950s and early 1960s, doctors recommended the "wonder drug" thalidomide to pregnant women to aid them with morning sickness. However, it was subsequently shown that the chemical also caused serious birth deformities in infants. Before thalidomide was taken off the market in the 1960s, the Thalidomide Trust believed that more than 10,000 newborns worldwide were affected by the drug. While Australian thalidomide sufferers looked on, Albanese made the statement, "Every day between then and now, Australians affected by thalidomide have been owed an apology," during an address to parliament.  "Australia will finally apologize today. "This apology takes in one of the darkest chapters in Australia's medical history." In 2010, the British government issued an equivalent apology.