Imagine you are part of a family expecting their first child. Newspaper articles show how the chances of abortions are increasing. As soon as anxiety begins to take over, just flip through a newspaper page and everything changes. An article about a new drug called Diethylstilbestrol appears to be on the next page. Diethylstilbestrol, also known as DES, is a medicine that helps prevent pregnancy complications, including miscarriages, in women. “This is awesome!” you might say, but do they really know the consequences of taking this new drug? Diethylstilbestrol was a huge game changer for most pregnant women in the early 20th century; however, it had many underlying negative consequences that would later hit the mother and child with the word no one ever wants to hear; cancer. For starters, DES is a drug that some women would take during pregnancy. Diethylstilbestrol is a man-made synthetic estrogen (“DES Exposure: Questions and Answers”). It was prescribed to help women who had complications during pregnancy and was supposed to resolve these problems (“Exposure to DES: Questions and Answers”). DES was primarily intended to prevent miscarriages. Although diethylstilbestrol was never patented, it has been sold in more than 200 brand-name medications (“DES Update: Consumers”). The Eli Lilly Company was the largest supplier of the drug Diethylstilbestrol (“DES”). After failing to help women with pregnancy complications, Diethylstilbestrol was recalled in 1971 due to the adverse health effects it caused in pregnant women and their babies (“Diethylstilbestrol (DES)”). This is good because they took it off the market before it could harm other people. Although DES was demonstrated in...... half of the paper ...... osure: questions and answers”). In the long term, those who have been exposed to diethylstilbestrol will be affected later in life. In short, diethylstilbestrol was a huge game changer for most pregnant women in the early 20th century; however, it had many underlying negative effects including cancer and deformations of the reproductive system. Diethylstilbestrol has been used to prevent miscarriages and has been found to be ineffective. Women who took Diethylstilbestrol put themselves and their children at risk. Diethylstilbestrol was created with good intentions, but the creator did not know the harmful effects it would have on his patients. There are many people still living with the side effects of diethylstilbestrol, many of which are incurable. This exemplifies how someone can have a good idea to improve someone's life, but it can ultimately lead to devastating consequences.