Honest Money

1.
Thalidomide was definitely known in the year 1938 and [its] defects were noted in Phoenix, AZ (USA) in a medical journal that year. It was known as a cure for Hanson’s Disease and made by [Richardson]-Merrill Co. in [Cincinnati], OH (USA). I don’t know what action was taken, but a young female doctor named Frances Oldham Kersey (or Kelsey) recognized its dangers. Theodore, Princeton, WV/USA
(reaction under From The Times April 4, 2008 Thalidomide: 50 years on victims unite to seek more compensation Nigel Hawkes, Health Editor
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/health/article3671815.ece

Kelsey was the lady who in 1960 only joined the US of A Food and Drugs Administration (FDA).
Once there, she further delayed thalidomide’s approval (thalidomide was marketed since 1957)
and was given a Presidential award by US of A president Kennedy for that delay.

Wikipedia says
that Kelsey is credited SINCE NINETEEN THIRTY-EIGHT with her interest in teratogens – that is, drugs that cause congenital malformations,
that 1938 was the date of the creation of the FDA,
and that Kelsey managed to be appointed there in 1960
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frances_Oldham_Kelsey

Thalidomide was marketed since 1957.
Kelsey was only appointed in the FDA in 1960.
How can she get (all) the credit for having ‘saved’ the US of A from it?

2.
The whistle on the thalidomide drug was blown at a congress of neurologists on 30 April – 1st May 1960 in Duesseldorf. (1)

Gruenenthal, the manufacturer in nearby Aachen, cannot possibly argue it didn’t know that.

Gruenenthal only withdrew thalidomide from Europe on 27 November 1961

In September 1961,
that’s more than sixteen months after the Duesseldorf congress of neurologists,
Richardson-Merrill made an application in US of A to allow thalidomide there.
This application was only withdrawn in 1962. (2)

And then Gruenenthal comes arguing that outside Ireland and a few other countries where it sold the drug directly, it can refuse compensation because this would be the responsibility of the licence holders. (3)

Should Gruenenthal not have informed its licence holders about the harmful effects of the drug?

3.
We are always told that thalidomide had not been tested,
or at least that it has not been tested on humans,
AND THAT
if it had been tested on humans,
then BLAHBLAHBLAH …

But thalidomide has been tested in REAL LIFE by inter alia Kelsey and some neurologists at the congress of neurologists held on 30 April – 1st May 1960 in Duesseldorf.

Kelsey and these neurologists found out that thalidomide led to serious birth defects in the babies.

Gruenenthal, the manufacturer of thalidomide, knew that. Guv’mint also.

But that did prevent the Gruenental from (continuing to) marketing it.

Ivo Cerckel
ivocerckel AT siquijor DOT ws

NOTES

(1)
Chronik des Conterganfalls
Tragödie – Katastrophe – Skandal?
http://www.wdr.de/themen/gesundheit/pharmazie/contergan/chronik.jhtml?rubrikenstyle=contergan
30. April/1. Mai 1960:
Auf einem Neurologen-Kongress in Düsseldorf berichtet der Neurologe Ralf Voss über die Nervenschädigungen, die seinen
Beobachtungen zufolge durch Thalidomid verursacht werden. Die Forschungsabteilung von Grünenthal versucht daraufhin, die Nervenschädigungen an Ratten zu reproduzieren – ohne Erfolg. Grünenthal-Forschungsleiter Mückter schließt daraus, dass es sich um besondere Situationen handelt, für die Contergan nur selten als Ursache infrage kommt.
+
27. November 1961:
Die Firma Grünenthal kündigt in einem Telegramm an das Düsseldorfer Innenministerium an, ihre Thalidomid-Präparate im In- und Ausland sofort aus dem Handel zu nehmen.
+
30. November 1961:
Eine Sachverständigen-Kommission, die das NRW-Innenministerium eingerufen hat, kommt zusammen. Die Experten erklären es für wahrscheinlich, dass Thalidomid Missbildungen hervorruft.Das amerikanische Arzneimittelunternehmen informiert Richardson-Merrill die US-Gesundheitsbehörde über die Ereignisse in Deutschland und zieht vier Monate später seinen Antrag auf Zulassung von Thalidomid zurück

(2)
Wie Amerika vor der Contergan-Katastrophe bewahrt wurde
Von Martina Lenzen-Schulte
http://www.faz.net/s/Rub7F74ED2FDF2B439794CC2D664921E7FF/Doc~EAF 04FB1B60CD4F83A586AA2D7BB84170~ATpl~Ecommon~Scontent.html

(3)
“Outside Ireland and a few other countries where Grunenthal sold the drug directly it has refused compensation, arguing it is the responsibility of the licence holders.”
( Thalidomide victims in new compensation call
By Andrew Jack in London
Financial Times April 3 2008 03:00 | Last updated: April 3 2008 03:00
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/6c825e5c-0117-11dd-a0c5-000077b07658.html

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