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About Medford mail tribune. (Medford, Or.) 1909-1989 | View Entire Issue (Aug. 29, 1963)
MEDFORD MAIL TRIBUNE, MEDFOBP. OREGON THURSDAY, AUGUST 29. 1963 y Thalidomide Scare Tightens Law Huti Sorrow Lomigers United Press International posed to be, or with other iduced by Chemle Grunen- Already, according to tion proved close to the ous thalidomide drugs from , given official approval. , veloped. A leading British , been negative. We have been Just a year after Europe's great "thalidomide scare," tightened drug laws and the passage of time appear to have ended a tragic harvest of cruelly deformed babies. But sorrow, suffering and bitterness linger. In Europe, it is estimated about 6,000 infants were born between 1958 and the end of 1962 as phocomeliacs, or "seal babies." These chil dren, many of them, came into the world with no arms, or flipper-like appendages where their arms were sup- more meat ore flavors horrible deformities. Exact official figures sre lacking, but the drug thali domide was blamed for many of the deformed births, to mothers who had taken the German-discovered and de veloped drug during preg nancy. The greatest damage was done in West Germany where, according to the fed eral health ministry, about 5,000 "thalidomide babies" were born up to the end of last year, of whom 3,184 are still living. The drug first was intro duced in West Germany in 1957 and was used on a wide scale. Under a variety of names "Contergan" "Dis taval" and "softenon" were among the best known it spread to markets through out most of Europe and to other parts of the world. It never was marketed without prescription in the United States where appro val was withheld by the Federal Drug and Health Ad ministration. But it could be obtained by" Americans from Europe. One result was the widely-publicized case of Mrs. Sherri Finkbine. 30-year-old Phoenix, Arizona, housewife who flew to Swe den last August to undergo a legal abortion there be cause she had taken Thalido mide during pregnancy and refused to risk having a malformed child. thai, one of Germany's most highly respected chemical firms, in 1953. After exhaus tive tests it was approved by official clinics and placed on the market in 1957. Its attri butes were remarkable. It was a highly effective seda tive that could be taken with no known after-effects; it was an effective sleep-inducer. Reduced Misery And, it showed later, when taken by prospective mothers it took a lot of misery out of pregnancy, including morn ing sickness. By the end of 1961 some thing like 100 million thali domide pills had been sold. The drug also was sold in liquid form, and as a suppo sitory. But by 1961 medical men already were having serious second thoughts about this new "wonder drug." As early as the autumn of 1960, Ger man doctors were disturbed by a sudden increase in de formed births in the coun try. By November, 1961. Dr. Widikund Lenz of Hamburg, a specialist in childbirth and child care, thought he knew the reason. On Nov. 16, 1UG1, he telephoned the Grunenthal firm at its head office in Stolberg and expressed his fears. He urged the company to withdraw "Contergan the name under which it was sold in Germany, from th market. On Nov. 19, Grunenthal Lenz, Germany could expect mark. from 50 to 100 malformed . .. babies to be born each In raP,d succession other month. His unhappy predic- countries withdrew the vari- Thalidomide was first pro- withdrew it. CHRISTMAS WEDDING - Bobby Vee, 20, teen-age singing idol, poses with his fiance and childhood sweetheart, Karen Bergen, 20. The couple plan a Christmas holiday wedding in Bobby's native town of Fargo, N. D. (UPI) f5 tar (Grocer's 1 their markets. Then the toll in malformed babies was counted. In Bri tain there were no over-all official figures but competent estimates ran as high as 800 seal" babies born before the drug was withheld; 53 were officially confirmed. Sweden counted 153 deformed blrthi up to the end of 1962, with 111 confirmed as born to "thali domide mothers." Holland had 16. Norway 19. Austria 7. Switzerland "possibly" 10. Belgium 26. Only France, Spain and Portugal reported no "thali domide babies." In those three countries the drug never had been put freely on the market. Suits Filed Many parents sued for re dress. In Germany about 60 law suits were lined up against the Grunenthal com pany. Two of the suits, charg ing negligence became "test cases" for the others. The two cases currently are in recess while expert opinion on Con tergan and its effects is being collected. They are due to resume later this year and it is predicted the legal battle may go on for years. In Belgium, a 25-year-old mother, Mrs. Suzanne Coipel, her husband, their doctor and other relatives were put on trial for having murdered Mrs. Coipel's "seal" baby. They were acquitted and Bel gians cheered the jury's verdict. So far as public records show, no "thalidomide ba bies have been born in Europe in 1963. The last such births to receive public at tention were at Reading, Eng land, on Sept. 29, 1962, and in Sterling, Scotland, on Nov. 18, 1962. Laws Tightened All countries affected by the thalidomide cases either have tightened or are in the process of tightening laws governing tfcross-the-counter sales of drugs. Others are seeking ways to improve test ing of drugs before they are V:-' :: . : I it V - V rr " ' Your grocer's no Ben Casey, but he's a specialist just the same. He's an expert on foods, and his prescription is... Blue Bell Potato Chips! Of course you know how popular Blue Bell Potato Chips are with your family and your guests. You know how they "go with" everything, to make any meal or snack a special occasion. But your grocer knows why! He knows Blue Bell Potato Chips as a Northwest product of reliable quality and unvarying wholesome goodness. He knows that Blue Bell has made crisp, golden savory potato chips-and only potato chips for more than a third of a century. Your grocer's a food specialist, whose business depends on pleasing you. He knows that more of his customers consistently take home Blue Bell Potato Chips than any other. Chances are, he takes them home himself! Pick up Blue Bell's exclusive 4-PAK at your grocer's In potato chip packages, it's his biggest customer value your best buy! 1 nothing could be more crisp... BILUE JjBSEiI Potato Chips Bar B Q Chips Chips for Dips All in boxes with exclusive "Carry-AH" handttol V But medical researchers still see no sure way to com pletely prevent such unsu1! pected effects as those laid at the door of thalidomide, and they are worried lest the thalidomide scare should create an atmosphere of such fear and suspicion that noth ing new in the field of drug research will be accepted. Thalidomide's effects on the human foetus were not checked for two reasons. Be cause there was no suspicion of such effects and because no known method of making such a check had been de pharmacologist said: "It may take a lot of ex periments to discover a spe cies of animal in which harm ful effects of drugs on the foetus could be taken to pre dict what could happen in the case of a woman." The Grunenthal firm itself has been running such ex periments, and has reported: "Since the first cases of deformities (blamed on thali domide) we have adminis tered doses as much as 100 times larger (on laboratory animals) than any given to a human. All the tests have been negative. We have been unable to create any deformities." pn WHIH I. MMIW !.' PIGGLY WIGGLY 741 Stewart Ave. Merfford Drivolron Gives Reaction Check In Aulo Crash By RICHARD FONTANA United Press International Pittsburgh-WPD - The truck appeared from nowhere. Brakes equealed. There was a crash, a blinding flash, then darkness. Then the lights were turned on. The crash occurred on a movie screen. The "car" in volved was a compartment approximately 7 by 3 feet with a steering wheel, brakes, gas pedal and turn signals. It's a driving simulator (call ed "drivotron.") The device is used to test motorist reaction and driving habits in situations under which most traffic accidents occur. It works like this: The subject being examined sits in the simulated car while a movie is projected on a screen directly In front of him. The proximity of the driver to the screen makes the scenes almost life-like. The driver is then confronted with a scries of emergencies and his reactions are recorded electronically. If he avoids the accident, the projector stops. If the accident occurs, a burst of stars hits the screen. Determine Cause A critique follows the ex amination and the reasons for the accidents are simple to determine. Generally, the pri mary causes are speeding and carelessness. The National Safety council feels the driver simulators "are quite valuable in both the areas of driver education and in safety research.'" Principal users of the device are owners of commercial fleets and the U.S. Air Force. Most report considerable de cline in accident rates after their drivers had been expos ed to the examinations sev eral times. The manufacturers of the mechanism (Rockwell Mfg. Co. and Aetna Casualty and Surety Co.) do not consider the tests a panacea. But they do feci the process induces an awareness of the accident potential inherent in driving which annually causes enor mous loss of life and property. In 1962, according to the Na tional Safety council, traffic accidents caused 40,900 deaths, 1.5 million disabling injuries and the loss of $7.3 billion. These devastating figures in most cases resulted from poor driving habits and techniques. This is what the testing is In tended to alter. RATE DOWN Salem 0TPII- The statewide rate of insured unemployment was down for the week end ing Aug. 22 compared to both a year ago and four weeks ago, David H. Cameron, em ployment commissioner, said EflW ?A V" II Save Money... on top grade Dairy Products DELIVERED TO YOUR DOOR! mi! i The Cloverleaf Dairy Is an INDEPENDENT HOME-OWNED and HOME-OPERATED Business Processes ONLY local milk Delivers ONLY in Jackson County Employs ONLY Jackson County People Pays taxes ONLY in Jackson County Call ut about home delivery of top quality dairy and related product. You can get this highest quality Grade A pasteurized milk delivered to your home for LESS than you pay at the store. MILK (Glass or Carton) CREAM HALF & HALF NON-FAT PUNCH 2 MILK GUERNSEY GOLD BUTTER MILK BUTTER ICE CREAM ' EGGS ORANGE DRINK COTTAGE CHEESE SPECIAL ORDERS DELIVERED ANYTIME ANYWHERE CALL US FOR INFORMATION MEDFORD 772-6169 ASHLAND 482-1681 how do you answer the hunger in a child's eyes, if be lives thousands of miles away? By joining CARE'S Food Crusade, you span the world to help feed hungry school children, orphans, refugees, the aged and sick, desperately poor families. what you do is share our farm abund ance staples donated by the U.S. Food for Peace program. CARE adds other foods, packs various units to match coun try needs. Every $1 you give sends one package with your name and address, to bring a personal message of friendship from the American people, where need is urgent, CARE delivers your gifts. You cannot specify persons, but you may choose any of these places: Colombia, Cyprus, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Greece, Haiti, Hong Kong, Iran, Israel, Jordan, Korea, Macau, Mexico, Pakistan, Poland, Sierra Leone, Turkey, West Berlin, Vietnam, Yugoslavia. CARE New York 16, N.Y. ,V or your local CARE office Here is $ for the Food Crusade. (Make checks payable to CARE, Inc.) , (Your name) (Address) MWmI I iilrnfl I llii Ii i win mi Courtesy of Mail Tribune o Wednesday.
