R.I.P. Dr. Frances Kelsey

[BaalChatzaf]

Dr. Frances Kelsey died yesterday, aged 101. She was a Canadian physician who worked for the U.S F.D.A. and found that thalidomide had horrendous effects on unborn developing fetuses. Her efforts led the F.D.A. to ban the use of thalidomide. Kelsey was put under a great deal of pressure by the pharmaceutical firms but she stood her ground. It is probably one of the few times the F.D.A. has done what it was formed to do, protect the public against medical products and drugs that do more harm than good. Most of the time the F.D.A. has prevented the use of beneficial products.

R.I.P. Dr. Kelsey.

[Peter]

Thanks for the heads up. May she rest in peace. I can remember the news stories when that scandal hit our consciousness. I think there were even 15 minute newscasts before the main movie back then that showed kids with no arms or legs but with bright, thinking brains.

Since then there have been other scares like with aluminum cans causing dementia which isn't true, alar and some sweeteners like saccharine being bad for you, and some that came true like taking vitamin E when you have a preexisting cancer will mean blood vessels form more quickly to feed the cancer's growth.

[Brant Gaede]

She was a hero* but the response beyond this one drug was over-blown making it much harder for new drugs to come to market. There is a huge difference between legal concern with safety and legal concern with effectiveness. I think effectiveness should be mostly determined by use in the field and demonstrated over time. This would leave drug companies more capital to demonstrate safety before the public gets its hands on a new medicine. If this were put into current practice then we could have the luxury of rational philosophical consideration of the rest of the package involving government regulation for safety.

--Brant

*one hell of a hero