Is thalidomide a word that you have heard? Is it still in the general vocabulary? I wonder. In any event, thalidomide is the reason the FDA has such rigorous drug tests. If you haven't heard of it, it could be because the US did not allow thalidomide to be sold -- although it was introduced as a wonder drug in Europe. Canada had it in circulation from 1959-1961. Canadians might be smug now about health care, but they sure blew it on this one.
The world is undoubtably full of heros that largely go unsung. Surely she is one of them: What a sad story lil. Still, thanks for posting this, I would have otherwise never known this dark history and, unfortunately still dark present. Anyone opposed to the existence of the FDA needs to read this.In September 1960, Dr. Frances Oldham Kelsey, a young pharmacologist who had just started working at the Food and Drug Administration, was asked to review the drug for approval but became alarmed by what she saw as the lack of rigorous scientific research supporting the drug’s safety done by Grünenthal and William S. Merrell, the United States distributor.