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Between 1954 and 1962, a sedative commonly prescribed to pregnant women caused thousands of serious birth defects. In 1962, the scandal surfaced in the news headlines with the trial, in Liège, of Belgian parents accused of the euthanasia of their child. Thalidomide had not been commercialized in France, yet the French were moved by the tragedy of the “monster children.” That same year, two television broadcasts (one scientific program and a human interest report) capitalized on the collective sentiment to challenge the control procedures for medication, and defined industrial, scientific, medical, and administrative responsibilities. This article draws on the dual concept of Weberian ethics to study how television was able to alert the French public to the risks caused by this medication, which was born of “a new science,” as well as to lead a campaign based on the moral questioning of medical progress.