You have a source for that? Nausea is just a symptom and can't really be life and death by itself.

Thalidomide is still mainly used for the treatment of multiple myeloma and leprosy.

Also a fun fact is that the US was basically unaffected by the thalidomide crisis because a pharmacologist employed by the FDA refused to approve the medication on the basis that it lacked sufficient clinical trials. Frances Oldham Kelsey resisted pressure from the company that was trying to sell the medicine in the US and only 17 people were affected in the US compared to the 20000 figure cited for global cases. JFK awarded her with a presidential award for her service.

No it isn't. There's plenty of safe anti-nausea medication on the market why would they use something like this that would cause birth defects?

Also as far as I'm aware preventing nausea isn't even one of its effects. When are you getting this information from?