Dark Remedy: The Impact Of Thalidomide And Its Revival As A Vital Medicine Paperback – December 24, 2001
Author: Trent Stephens | Language: English | ISBN: 0738205907 | Format: PDF, EPUB
Dark Remedy: The Impact Of Thalidomide And Its Revival As A Vital Medicine – December 24, 2001
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Amazon.com Review
Twentieth-century science is too complex for any one reader's apprehension, so we look for stories that help us grasp its enormity. The jubilant discovery, demonization, and subsequent rehabilitation of thalidomide offers a wide-ranging outline of public attitudes toward science following World War II, and the authors of Dark Remedy: The Impact of Thalidomide and Its Revival As a Vital Medicine tell the story well. Historian Rock Brynner and embryologist Trent Stephens--who may have finally determined the drug's mechanism of action in 1998--treat us to both a devastating indictment of the under-regulated pharmaceutical industry of the 1950s and a penetrating study of thalidomide's reintroduction into mainstream medicine through the black market. The powerful anti-inflammatory properties of the drug make it a popular choice for treating arthritis, leprosy, some cancers, AIDS, MS, and many other debilitating illnesses, but it has only recently won grudging approval. Though the its tone can be acidic (in one instance referring to the "Utopian prosthetics custom-designed for the deformities caused by Utopian medicine"), the book is, for the most part, fair to the corporations that caused and then ignored the epidemic of birth defects, the victims who understandably tried to prevent the drug's revival, and the regulators who were too often bound by short-sighted legislation to do their jobs. The heroes and villains are larger than life, the stories and the science are equally compelling, and Dark Remedy ultimately combines the best elements of journalism and myth. --Rob Lightner --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
From Publishers Weekly
Thalidomide, the drug notorious for causing deformities in infants during the late 1950s and early '60s, has been back in the news--amazingly, it has been found useful in treating a range of diseases from cancer and leprosy to AIDS. Combining Stephens's expertise as a scientist researching thalidomide and novelist and historian Brynner's (The Doomsday Report) firsthand experience as a thalidomide recipient (he was given the drug to treat t a rare inflammatory disease), this compelling tale documents the history of a drug originally offered as a "safe" alternative to barbiturates (which were used by suicides). Very soon, it came to be linked to nerve damage in adults and to "flipper-like" limbs in babies born to women who took the drug. An arduous legal battle ensued, and the authors nicely highlight such figures as the FDA's Frances Kelsey, who fought successfully against the drug being approved for use in the U.S., and pediatrician Widukind Lenz, who linked thalidomide to the birth defects. In particular, however, the authors successfully convey the necessity of placing an "absolute commitment to truth" ahead of all other considerations when testing, prescribing or selling a drug. "The monster was never thalidomide itself," they claim of the drug that sparked FDA reform. While this moving account offers a chilling glimpse of how the profit motive can negatively affect many lives, it also includes a straightforward presentation of Stephens's pioneering research with thalidomide--research that he hopes will contribute to developing a truly safe alternative. (Feb.)Forecast: Brynner is the late actor Yul Brynner's son. That will undoubtedly help bring publicity to this title, which will draw a wide range of readers interested in the ethics and science of medical research.
Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title. See all Editorial Reviews
Download latest books on mediafire and other links compilation Dark Remedy: The Impact Of Thalidomide And Its Revival As A Vital Medicine – December 24, 2001
- Paperback: 240 pages
- Publisher: Basic Books; 1 edition (December 24, 2001)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0738205907
- ISBN-13: 978-0738205908
- Product Dimensions: 8.6 x 5.6 x 0.6 inches
- Shipping Weight: 11.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
- Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #865,133 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
Anyone who could pay attention to newspapers in the 1960s remembers the stories of thalidomide. Thousands of women took this super-safe sedative, or morning sickness suppressant, and found that their children were born with grotesquely stunted limbs like flippers, or perhaps no arms or legs at all. The dismal story of how thalidomide was invented, marketed, and withdrawn is a big part of the fascinating account in _Dark Remedy: The Impact of Thalidomide and its Revival as a Vital Medicine_ (Perseus Publishing), by Trent Stephens and Rock Brynner, but as the title implies, the story is not all gloom. The initial part of the story is simply shocking, with the German drug manufacturer displaying incompetence and selfishness throughout the product's development, testing, and distribution. When problems emerged, the company did a cover up, hired a detective to keep tabs on the doctors and patients who were complaining, and kept selling the drug.
The United States was a huge potential market for thalidomide. A subsidy of Vick Chemical Company (makers of Vicks VapoRub) was set to release it in the US in 1961. The company was sure it would get quick approval from the Food and Drug Administration, because at the time there was no requirement to show that the drug worked, it was up to the FDA to find any data to show any dangers, and pharmaceutical representatives did favors for FDA officials. The FDA, and the company, did not reckon on young FDA staffer Dr. Frances Kelsey, who was appalled by the sloppiness of the application. The story of the drug company's recklessness is shocking, but Dr. Kelsey's refusal to bow to heavy pressure, from both the company and her superiors in the FDA, is one of the inspiring parts of the book.
Dark Remedy by Brynner and Stephens is a rather scary tale of how one person, Dr. Frances Kelsey, may have just saved the people of the United States from a very trajic event in the 1960-61 era. Being a new FDA employee back then, she simply refused to permit its (ie, thalidomide) acceptance for the US (FDA approval) market, and by doing so, prevented one of the worst nightmares that could have occurred in American medical history. Many other countries had already approved the drug for use, and by doing so, suffered consequences most of us are well aware of to this date. For that one fact alone, she certainly deserved the medal given by President Kennedy and many thanks from every American. The book also shows how bullish a pharmaceutical company can be. In 1958, it boldly went through the William Merrill company, so to set up the manufacturing process, as the drug called "Kevadon" back then. We are all very fortunate, that she (Kelsay) had the will and inner guidance not to cave in to all of the pressures of lobbyists of other countries and just say "no." Their approval (other countries, I mean) earlier of this so-called "super safe" sedative caused some of the most grotesque limb malformations imaginable to people-- that totally trusted the medical community at the time. The makers of this product clearly knew the dangers, but in the interest of greed and money, openly chose to ignore the findings. Essentially, doctors and pharmacists were lied to in accepting their literature presented to our FDA. The authors state that metabolism of this product by our bodies generate over 100 byproducts, each capable of doing this or that, and I am not quite sure this is true.
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