Dark Remedy: The Impact Of Thalidomide And Its Revival As A Vital Medicine [Kindle Edition]
Author: Rock Brynner | Language: English | ISBN: B00ADOFEUY | Format: PDF, EPUB
Dark Remedy: The Impact Of Thalidomide And Its Revival As A Vital Medicine
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Free download Dark Remedy: The Impact Of Thalidomide And Its Revival As A Vital Medicine [Kindle Edition] from mediafire, rapishare, and mirror link
In this riveting medical detective story, Trent Stephens and Rock Brynner recount the history of thalidomide, from the epidemic of birth defects in the 1960's to the present day, as scientists work to create and test an alternative drug that captures thalidomide's curative properties without its cruel side effects. A parable about compassion-and the absence of it-Dark Remedy is a gripping account of thalidomide's extraordinary impact on the lives of individuals and nations over half a century.
Download latest books on mediafire and other links compilation Dark Remedy: The Impact Of Thalidomide And Its Revival As A Vital Medicine [Kindle Edition] - File Size: 375 KB
- Print Length: 247 pages
- Page Numbers Source ISBN: 0738205907
- Publisher: Basic Books; 1 edition (April 27, 2009)
- Sold by: Amazon Digital Services, Inc.
- Language: English
- ASIN: B00ADOFEUY
- Text-to-Speech: Enabled
- Lending: Not Enabled
- Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #391,263 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)
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 The dismal story of how thalidomide was invented, marketed, and withdrawn is a big part of the fascinating account in _Dark Remedy: The Impact of Thalidomide and its Revival as a Vital Medicine_ (Perseus Publishing), by Trent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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