Gaia
7th August 2015, 23:15
Frances Oldham Kelsey, the doctor who kept thalidomide from becoming available in the United States, has died at age 101 today.
In 1960, Kelsey became a reviewer for the FDA, and made a decision that would have a profound impact:
A month after assuming her position with the FDA she was assigned the review of a new drug application for thalidomide, a sedative that had been used by expectant mothers and many others in dozens of countries since the late 1950s. U.S. law at the time required a firm to provide evidence of a drug’s safety as a requirement for sale.
Despite the global popularity of this drug, and despite a constant and increasing pressure from the firm (The German drug company Chemie Grünenthal) to approve the application, Dr. Kelsey refused to do that without adequate evidence that the drug was safe, a decision that was supported by her colleagues and superiors.
She is a Canadian whose heroism was primarily for the benefit of another country.
Thalidomide was legal in Canada at the time she did this and for several years after and the Canadian governement treatment of those affected was (and still is... ) pretty horrible. So awkward...!
How ridiculous is it that she was not given the Order of Canada until may of this year...
Source: http://www.cbc.ca/news/health/frances-oldham-kelsey-canadian-doctor-and-thalidomide-hero-dies-at-101-1.3183014
http://cr4.globalspec.com/PostImages/200801/Kelsey_01_78DD7647-AFE6-62B7-24056E8F75296D56.jpg
What a truly amazing Doctor!
This proves just one thing if you trust someones else to look after yourself you are a fool. Governements do not give a damn about your health as long as your problem does not affect them personally or at the polls...
She is a hero for me...
Thalidomide was developed by the Nazis and tested on prisoners at concentration camps. Ten thousand babies were born with physical deformities and brain damage caused by Thalidomide.
Here's an article about the development of the drug by the Nazis:
http://www.newsweek.com/nazis-and-thalidomide-worst-drug-scandal-all-time-64655
Gaia
In 1960, Kelsey became a reviewer for the FDA, and made a decision that would have a profound impact:
A month after assuming her position with the FDA she was assigned the review of a new drug application for thalidomide, a sedative that had been used by expectant mothers and many others in dozens of countries since the late 1950s. U.S. law at the time required a firm to provide evidence of a drug’s safety as a requirement for sale.
Despite the global popularity of this drug, and despite a constant and increasing pressure from the firm (The German drug company Chemie Grünenthal) to approve the application, Dr. Kelsey refused to do that without adequate evidence that the drug was safe, a decision that was supported by her colleagues and superiors.
She is a Canadian whose heroism was primarily for the benefit of another country.
Thalidomide was legal in Canada at the time she did this and for several years after and the Canadian governement treatment of those affected was (and still is... ) pretty horrible. So awkward...!
How ridiculous is it that she was not given the Order of Canada until may of this year...
Source: http://www.cbc.ca/news/health/frances-oldham-kelsey-canadian-doctor-and-thalidomide-hero-dies-at-101-1.3183014
http://cr4.globalspec.com/PostImages/200801/Kelsey_01_78DD7647-AFE6-62B7-24056E8F75296D56.jpg
What a truly amazing Doctor!
This proves just one thing if you trust someones else to look after yourself you are a fool. Governements do not give a damn about your health as long as your problem does not affect them personally or at the polls...
She is a hero for me...
Thalidomide was developed by the Nazis and tested on prisoners at concentration camps. Ten thousand babies were born with physical deformities and brain damage caused by Thalidomide.
Here's an article about the development of the drug by the Nazis:
http://www.newsweek.com/nazis-and-thalidomide-worst-drug-scandal-all-time-64655
Gaia