As nouns the difference between phocomelia and thalidomide

is that phocomelia is a congenital disorder of the limbs, the affected person being born with abnormally short or missing bones and flipper-like hands or feet while thalidomide is (pharmaceutical drug) oxopiperidin-3-yl)-1h-isoindole-1,3(2h)dione — c₁₃h₁₀n₂[[oxygen|o₄ — a drug that was sold during the late 1950s and 1960s as a sleeping aid, and to pregnant women as an antiemetic to combat morning sickness and other symptoms, but was withdrawn after being proven to cause severe birth defects, such as phocomelia; currently used to treat leprosy.