12 A
WEDNESDAY. JULY 18, 1962
MEDFOHD MAIL TRIBUNE, MEDFOBD. OREGON
Dennis the Menace
mm
Small Worlds
Around Us
By LYNN M. WATKINS
(Regiifcf and Tribuna
Syndicate 1962)
'Stubborn' FDA Assistant Credited
With Preventing Infant Deformaties
Editor's not: This Is the
itory of a woman who refused
to let criticism iway htr
doubts about a new drug. Her
refusal to approva its ill in
tha Unitad Stalai may hava
pravantad thousands of babias
from baing born with deformities.
Pioneers Did Pretty Well in
Early Attempts at Medicine
It is not practiced much
any more, but the time was,
and not many years ago,
when people believed in the
so-called doctrine ol signa
ture. That was back in the days
when there was no corner
drug store and the doctor was
many miles away. There were
no telephones or good roads.
If anyone In the family be
came sick, it was only the
pioneer housewife herself
who could administer medi
cines, and her only course of
supply was the woods and
fields, her own garden, and
the doctrine of signature.
The fact that those pio
neers retained a measure of
good health, and survived to
beget the numerous genera
tions which followed indi
cates pretty conclusively that
this doctrine and barks, roots,
berries and fruits most cer
tainly had some curative
effects.
What It Means
This peculiar sounding
phrase ana Its application
had to do with those plants
whose leaves, fruits, bark,
berries or flowers resembled
in shape some organ of the
human body. For Instance,
those plants which had heart
shaped leaves were supposed
to be helpful In the treat
ment of conditions of the
heart.
Belief in this proposition
was known as doctrine of sig
natures. And in this same de
partment, a plant called
hcartcase, which we now call
the pansy, was used in emo
tional affairs of the heart in
England a few generations
ago. A concoction of the
leaves, steeped in water was
given to a young lady to cure
the pangs of love. Although
we are more philosophical to
day, we still use "digitalis"
for heart trouble, and it
came, and still docs, from a
common garden plant we call
the foxglove.
And back when the doc
trine of signature was so seri
ously believed in, those plants
with kidney-shaped leaves
supposedly yielded them
selves favorable to treatment
of those organs. There are of
course, leaves shaped like
feet, hands, cars, nose and
Just about anything we want
to liken them to.
Figuring out how to use,
or what part of the plant
yielded the proper curative,
was something else again, but
even then most people know
that leaves had more differ
ent component parts and ele
ments than did the roots or
the fruit.
Did Pretty Well
But with what sketchy
knowledge our forefathers
BY LEON BURNETT
Washington (UPH Dr. Fran
ces Oldham Kciscy 01 me
Food and Drug Administra
tion has been called a stub
born woman. She also has
been called an unreasonable
bureaucrat.
But Assistant FDA Commis
sioned Winton B. Rankin says
the American public owes her
a vole of thanks for that stub-
borncss.
Rankin contirmcd that Dr.
Kilscy may have prevented
"an American tragedy" by her
steadfast refusal to allow the
marketing in this country of a
sleeping pill later linked to
grotesque deformities in new
born children.
The 47-year-old drug spe
cialist withstood a barrage of
criticism before a medical in
vestigation eventually proved
that her suspicions were well
founded. The shory, which was re
lated by the Washington Post,
involves a drug with the
chemical name thalidomide
and a rare type of birth defect
known as phocomclia.
West German Development
Thalidomide was developed
in 1D54 by a West German
firm but was discarded be
cause it showed no effect on
test animals. In 1958 another
German firm found that it
promised to be the best sleep
inducer ever-no hangover, no
danger in overdosage.
Under the trade name of
had, and the Indans before
them, they did pretty well at
that. They even found that
the mourning bride, or pin
cushion flower, was a pretty
effective remedy for the itch,
and the flower was named
scabious: and itch is what the
word means.
Today with the prevalence
of bathtubs and shower stalls,
and a consciousness of the
value of cleanliness, scabious
is raised only because it is a
pretty flower to grow In a
garden. About then, too, the
blossom of the chrysanthe
mum was rubbed on fretful
children who then always
seemed to relax and drop
peacefully to sleep. It was
thought that something in the
plant soothed the child, but
now we know, and reluctant
ly admit, that the poor little
thing was suffering from
body lice and the natural in
secticide In the chrysanthC'
mum blossoms killed the lice
and the thankful child was
able to rest.
Contergan the drug found a
booming market in West
Germany. It was sold ir Bri
tain as Distaval, in Portugal
as Softenon, and in Canada
as Talimol.
In September 1960 the Wil
liam S. Merrell Co. of Cin
cinnati asked the FDA for
clearance to market the com
pound in the United States.
The thalidomide applica
tion became the first assign
ment for Dr. Kelsey who had
Just joined FDA.
Along with the application
came data claiming the drug
to be safe for use. But Dr.
Kciscy was not convinced.
She repeatedly refused to ap
prove the drug and her su
periors backed her up.
Dr. Kelsey says there were
insinuations that she was a
hair-splitter, an unreasonable
bureaucrat - that she was
stupid. But she refused to
budge from her position.
Affliction Becomes Common
In 1961 West Germany
found itself confronted by a
vexing medical problem. Pho
comclia, an affliction so rare
that some medical dictionar
ies do not even list it, was be
coming all too common.
Ordinarily, a victim of
phocomelia is missing one
arm and small rudimentary
fingers grow from the stub.
But the cases in Germany
were worse. Some infants
were born with both arms or
legs missing, others with
three limbs and a few with
none at all.
A variety of possible caus
es, from heredity to radioac
tive fallout, were considered
and discarded. Then last No
vember Dr. Widukind Lenz,
a Hamburg pediatrician, con
ducted a study which showed
that about 20 per cent of the
mothers of deformed infants
whom he treated had taken
thalidomide. After fi rthcr in
vestigation, he found the rate
went up to 50 per cent.
The drug was found to be
dangerous to the unborn
when taken by the mother
within 20 to 40 days after con
ception. During this period,
Dr. Lenz believes, the chanc
es are at least two in five that
the baby will be affected.
Removed From Market
Thalidomide was removed
from the market in Germany
and elsewhere. But it is esti
mated that by the end of Au
gust the number of deformed
children born in West Ger
many will be between 3,500
and 6.000. One of three is ex
pected to die.
Dr. Kelsey, wife of anoth
er pharmacologist, F. Ellis
Kelsey, special assistant to
the surgeon general, and the
mother of two daughters, 15
and 12, had this to say about
her role in keeping the drug
off the American market:
"They certainly thought I
was unreasonable. But I did
not feel the material to back
it up was very adequate.
"The company wa? very
anxious to gel the stuff on the
market, but this was rou
tine." The whole general tenor of
the crlticisn. i f her "was sort
of a 'stubborness'," she said.
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J Payable My 31, 1961, to
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House Antitrust
Group Plans Look
At News Media
Washinglon-IUPH-The House
antitrust subcommittee plans
to look into operations of
newspapers, wire services and
other news media later this
year.
No date has been set for
the hearings, but they are not
expected to start for at least
two months and probably not
until after Congress adjourns.
Chairman Emanuel Celler
(D-N.Y.) said that he merely
wanted facts and any type of
censorship would be avoided
"like the plague."
One phase of the inquiry
will deal with consolidations
in the newspaper field. Tele
vision and radio news cover
age also will be studied.
He said his group wanted to
determine whether:
-Is it a healthy business
condition for one firm to own
both the morning and after
noon newspapers in a town?
-Does the common owner
ship of newspapers and television-radio
stations result in
slanted news?
-How do the wire services
operate, and what is their pro
cedure for processing news
for wide presentation?
Celler said the subcommit-
tee also was interested in the ;
suburban press, which has I
grown rapidly in recent years, j
Includes Broadcasting
Witnesses, he said, would
include owners of news media,
broadcasting officials and
reprcscntalivcs of the Justice
Department and Federal
Trade Commission. He said no
one would be subpoenaed, and
no witness will be compelled
to testify on editorial content
against his wishes.
To lay groundwork for the
inquiry, a staff headed by
Stuart II. Johnson is studying
newspaper content at the Li
brary of Congress.
Johnson said that among
the newspaper transactions to
be investigated would be the
purchase of the New Orleans
Times-Picayune and Item by
S. I. Ncwhouse, and Hearst
Publishing Co.'s purchase
from Scripps Howard of the
San Francisco News -Call
Bulletin.
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Veterans Entitled
To Former Jobs
With the Impending release
of reservists and National
Guardsmen called to active
duty during the Berlin crisis,
employers and labor organiza
tions today were reminded of
the reemployment provisions
of the Universal Military
Training and Service act.
Persons who left their Jobs
to serve the country durins
this emergency are entitled
under the law to be restored
to their former position with
out loss of seniority, status, or
rate of pay, according to the
bureau of veterans reemploy
ment rights. U.S. Department
of Labor.
The act gives veterans pro
tection of their civilian lob
rights for up to four years
of military service. Because
many had already served four
years during the Korean cri
sis, the art was amended last
October to protect the rights
of reservists and guardsmen
recalled to duty in the recent
military buildup. Under the
amendment those reentering
the military after Aug I.
IS6I. will not have their prior
service rounted in the four-
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