500 



Local, State public health and sanitation officials : Wliile citing pollu- 

 tion hazards, many felt States already had ample statutory respon- 

 sibility to ameliorate the problem ; others felt local costs would be 

 prohibitive. 

 Federal Works Agency : Felt the problem could best be handled as an 

 engineering problem under joint jurisdiction of the Public Health 

 Service and the Federal Works Agency; Also recommended that 

 implementation of antipollution program await depression cycle 

 in the economy. 

 Oil, paper pulp, coal, and mining interests : Cited their own efforts to 

 solve the problem; impossibility of solving the problem; value of 

 some pollutants for the environment and prohibitive costs of indus- 

 trial efforts to clean up effluent. 



Decision. — Enactment of experimental and temporary legislation 

 that declared pollution a national problem, encouraged interstate co- 

 operation, gave planning aid to States and municipalities, and estab- 

 lished a Federal research facility. 



Decision locus. — The two Public Works Committees, the legislative 

 process, and Presidential acquiescence (withheld on a previous 

 occasion). 



Assessment. — The 1948 pollution control legislation was the first 

 Federal venture into this field. It contained compromise arrangements 

 to satisfy the claims of industrial and States rights opponents. Never- 

 the less it established the precedent of Federal responsibility in the 

 field. In passing the act, the Congress made explicit its intention that 

 further legislative action would be forthcoming as the need was 

 demonstrated. 



Commentary. — Probably the most significant feature resulting from 

 the 1948 act was the assurance that thenceforth a Federal agency would 

 share jurisdiction, and be available to advise the Congress on the 

 status and needs of national pollution abatement measures. The 1948 

 legislation was concededly tentative, but it contained a potential for 

 growth, which the Congress subsequently demonstrated by making the 

 Federal function permanent in 1956, and by expanding its role still 

 further in 1961, 1965, and 1966. 



CASE TWELVE : THALIDOMIDE 



Background. — Advances in synthetic organic chemistry before and 

 during World War II had led to a great proliferation of potent drugs. 

 The procedures for testing new drugs were elaborate and costly. The 

 market for any particular medication was limited by the numbers of 

 persons whose ailment it could ease. New drugs for many purposes 

 were causing a high rate of obsolescence in drugs generally. Exploit- 

 ing such a perishable market required aggressive marketing and a 

 short-range pricing policy. The success of a campaign to market any 

 single drug might depend on the length of time between its approval 

 by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and its becoming 

 obsolete. Maximization of return could be achieved by setting the 

 price at a high level; by deferring the obsolescence of the drug by 

 further innovation, packaging, or combination; by telescoping the 

 preparatory marketing by combining it with the testing phase ; by es- 



