reading the novel "The strength of Deception", by Mary Higgins Clark, I came across this passage where a character says to another: "Think of all the drugs that seemed miraculous, were a disaster. Thalidomide is a classic example. It was approved in Europe for forty years to eliminate the nausea of \u200b\u200bpregnant women. Luckily, at that time, Dr. Frances Kelsey, the FDA insisted on prohibition. Today, especially in Germany, people forty years with horrendous genetic deformities, and flippers instead of arms, because their mothers pernsaron that the drug was harmless ".
I read it and attention. I thought: is it a bolazo, literary license? have something real? So I looked it up. In principle, slobre thalidomide, says Wikipedia: "Thalidomide is a drug that was marketed between 1958 and 1963 as sedative and calming nausea during the first three months of pregnancy (hyperemesis gravidarum). As a sedative was very successful and popular that caused almost no side effects and if swallowed mass was not lethal. The drug, produced by Chemie Grünenthal, Germany, caused thousands of birth of affected babies phocomelia, a congenital anomaly characterized by the lack or excessive shortness of limbs. "
However, it seems that today it has found a new utility. According to the source, "at present, thalidomide is used again, with the support of WHO, in some countries, because it has proven effective in diseases like leprosy. There are cases birth of children with dysmelia in Ethiopia and Brazil, children of thalidomide. Can be found for sale on the internet, but this type of sale is totally fraudulent. Are also conducting trials with thalidomide and some of its derivatives in patients with certain cancer types. It has been proven effective in cases of multiple myeloma, applied especially in cases where conventional treatments (chemotherapy and radiotherapy) have failed or are not viable. In some cases, thalidomide has surpassed in efficiency to conventional therapy.
To make it complete, I looked at Frances Kelsey and I found the following: "Frances Kathleen Oldham Kelsey (n. July 24, 1914) is a pharmacologist and Canadian medical doctor, known as the supervisor of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) that between 1960 and 1961 refused to authorize the release of the drug thalidomide in United States, because she was worried about his safety. His fears proved to be justified when months later it was found that the drug caused severe birth defects in more than 10,000 children in 46 countries.
crazy thing is that the mine is 96 years old and still not Palm!
