Description
The woman scientist who saved Americans from thalidomideIn the early 1960s, Dr. Frances Oldham Kelsey of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration became one of the most celebrated women in America when she prevented a deadly sedative from entering the U.S. market. A Canadian-born pharmacologist and physician, Kelsey saved countless Americans from the devastating side effects of thalidomide, a drug routinely given to pregnant women to prevent morning sickness.As the FDA medical officer charged with reviewing Merrell Pharmaceutical''s application for approval in 1960-61, Kelsey was unconvinced that there was sufficient evidence of the drug''s efficacy and safety. Despite substantial pressure, she held her ground for nineteen months while the extent of the drug''s worldwide damage became known-thousands of stillborn babies, as well as at least 10,000 children across 46 countries born with severe deformities such as missing limbs, arms and legs that resembled flippers, and improperly develope
