In 1960 Dr. Frances Oldham Kelsey was the new medical
officer at the Food and Drug Administration when an application for approval of
the sedative Kevadon, the trade name of thalidomide, manufactured by drug
company William S. Merrell Company of Cincinnati. Thalidomide was already being
sold to pregnant women in other countries as an anti-nausea drug to treat
morning sickness, and Merrell wanted a license to do the same in the United
States. Kelsey was skeptical and demanded more tests; Merrell balked. For well
over a year, Kelsey stood in Merrell’s way while they complained to her bosses
and called her a petty bureaucrat and nitpicker. By the end of 1961 reports
began pouring in: thalidomide had caused thousands of horrible birth defects in
Canada, Europe and the Middle East. If not for Kelsey’s stubbornness, the same
tragedy would have happened here as well. Dr. Kelsey passed away August 7, 2015
at the age of 101.
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