385 



desk of a particular reviewer ; the existing system was not adequate to prevent 

 a mass tragedy ; serious flaws endangered the public safety."^ 



V. Congressional Response to the Thalidomide Near-Disaster 



The first formal congressional response to the appearance of the New 

 York Times account of Dr. Taussig's findings about the German thalid- 

 omide disaster occurred, May 24, 1962, when Dr. Taussig appeared 

 before Eepresentative Celler's Committee on the Judiciary. She pro- 

 vided a detailed description of the history of German experience with 

 the drug, including slide projection illustrations of infants born with 

 the deformities called phocomelia.^*^ The Taussig testimony received 

 no particular attention or emphasis, however.' ^ 



Dr. Taussig's testimony developed the thesis that "it is awfully 

 hard to really be safe." There was more danger from a widely used 

 drug for minor disorders than from a more powerful drug used to 

 treat an extremely serious disease.'^ As to thalidomide, the circum- 

 stantial evidence was "overwhelming" that the drug, "if taken during 

 a sensitive period, may cause phocomelia." ^^ 



The thalidomide story became a "headline" in the United States 

 when it was invested with drama in a front-page feature story in the 

 Washington Post, by Morton Mintz, on Sunday, July 15. The account 

 began : 



This is the story of how the skepticism and stubbornness of a Government 

 physician prevented what could have been an appalling American tragedy, the 

 birth of hundreds or indeed thousands of armless and legless children. 



The story went on to describe how Dr. Kelsey had carried out her 

 duty, "living the wliile with insinuations that she was a bureaucratic 

 nitpicker, unreasonable — even, she said, stupid." ^° Presented in these 

 terms, the thalidomide story remained for some time a sensation, 

 sustained not only by subsequent testimony in committees, and floor 

 statements by Members of Congress, but also by follow-on human 

 interest stories, such as that of a Phoenix, Ariz., housewife who vain- 

 ly sought a legal abortion in the United States to escape the conse- 

 quences of thalidomide medication in early pregnancy and subsequent- 

 ly journeyed to Sweden to obtain the operation.®^ In these ways, the 

 emotional impact of the tragedy was sustained throughout the sum- 

 mer of 1962 while drug legislation was before the Congress. 



"= Senate. Committee on Government Operations. Interagency Drug Coordination. Re- 

 port. * ♦ • S. Rept. 1153 (1966), op. cit., pp. 12-13. 



^^ U.S. Congress. House. Committee on the Judiciary. Drug Industry Antitrust Act. Hear- 

 ings before the Antitrust Subcommittee (Subcommittee No. 5) of the * * • on H.R. 6245. 

 A bill to amend and supplement the antitrust laws with respect to the manufacture and 

 distribution of drugs, and for other purposes. May 17, IS, 23, and 24, 1962. Serial No. 32. 

 (Washington, U.S. Government Printing Office, 1962), pp. 415-442. Hereinafter cited as 

 House. Drug Industry Antitrust Act. Hearings (1962). 



" According to the account by Richard Harris, The Real Voice, op. cit., p. 161 : "To the 

 astonishment of those who attended the hearings, not a word about Dr. Taussig's testimony 

 appeared in the newspapers. There were some darli mutterings about a press blackout, but 

 actually nothing so sinister had occurred. It was simply that Celler's staff had not an- 

 nounced that a witness was about to say something important. Several weeks later, when 

 the thalidomide story suddenly hit the front pages of every newspaper in the country, a 

 wire service reporter assigned to the Hill complained about (this lack of advance 

 notice) • • ♦." 



"s House. Committee on the Judiciary. Drug Industry Antitrust Act. Hearings. * * » 

 (1962), op. cit., pp. 424-429. 



'"Ibid., p. 417. 



M Morton Mintz, "Heroine" of FDA Keeps Bad Drug Off Market. Washington Post (July 

 15. 1962), p. 1. 



« The Real Voice. Op. cit., pp. 188, 201, 216. 



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