This is a documentary about the children of mothers who were prescribed Thalidomide from the 1950s to the 1960s. Today, Thalidomide-based drugs are used to treat leprosy (Hansen’s Disease) and multiple myeloma. It is also still manufactured today and used, quite unregulated, today in various parts of South America and Asia, where usage leads to birth defects.
This opens up to questions of medical ethics. Today, with the coronavirus, vaccinations against it are being explored, but will they be safe? That is a tough question for medical ethicists. Today, because of herd immunity, we don’t see the diseases killing our friends or family or children as they did up to the 1940s. As a result, we see those who do not believe in the validity of vaccinations. Scares such as Thalidomide give cause for worry – when drugs are pushed without adequate research.
Thalidomide leaves visible damage. DES (diethylstilbestrol) left generational genetic damage and increased risk for cancer. The Salk polio vaccine saved millions from infantile paralysis. The list of good and bad drugs and vaccines is too long to mention. Will a coronavirus vaccine be safe, cause birth defects, or lead to generational mutations? Here, we need to think individually and collectively, as well as to think about future generations. Cost vs. benefit. There are times when society shifts to the beauty of the dollar and the $600.00 epi-pen as more important than the good that can be done. For-profit medical care at what cost? Here, again, a question for the medical ethicist. Money helps to fund research, but money for the pure point of money?
Today’s pandemic is bringing out the best and worst in people. I hope that the good guys will prevail.
Ink, Yarn & Beer 
I don’t think there’s an answer. But I do think the drug companies are mostly out for their bottom lines rather than getting life saving drugs to the many who need them. For me, I’ll try holistic medicine first and then allopathic medicine. Sometimes we expect perfection from the medical community the first time around, but nothing in this world is perfect.
Well said, Anne!
There are good guys?
Thanks! -N-
I think so! Despite all the negativity in this administration, selfishness, dysfunction, there are those who do believe in helping others. Dr. Fauci stands up and says things. I like to think that researchers and companies have something good in mind beyond profit – I have to believe this, though I know profits are part of the equation. If I fail to believe in goodness, especially in these dark times, where is hope? I love the story of Pandora’s box because of this simple item: Hope in face of all the troubles of the world. Some people believe in God or Goddess, in heaven, whatever – all these are based on hope. We all need hope and faith in something, I think.
So glad my mum didn’t take them.
Me, too, Fraggy.
Well, in all fairness, “society” didn’t shift to $600 Epipens. An unscrupulous person bought the company and jacked up the price without any need to. The ensuing uproar caused him to lose both “face” and lots of money, and deservedly so. On the plus side, there is now an IV drug, Remdesivir, being used for serious COVID-19 cases in hospitals, which was developed by a for-profit company for a previous epidemic, never used, and is now saving lives, at a price which most observers consider “fair” for what it is and what it’s needed for. Many, many treatments for all sorts of diseases have been developed by for-profit industries and have helped save and improve lives.
On the other hand, the performances of the CDC and the NIH in this current epidemic have been uninspiring to say the least. First, it was no risk to the general public. Masks were no use and should not be worn. Then, inflated infection fatality estimates at 5% of those who got the disease predicted millions of dead in America alone. Fortunately for all of us, those predictions and that infection fatality rate proved drastically wrong. By May, the CDC was estimated the lethality rate was .26% instead of 5%, and even that is probably high given the huge numbers of asymptomatic cases which are not included in the calculation.
And even with that much, much lower infection fatality rate, we need to realize that the majority of deaths are among people older than 65 with other existing serious health problems. Nationwide, perhaps half of the fatalities have been residents of nursing homes and assisted living centers. In some states, this fatality rate was made far worse by the actions of governors who pushed recovering COVID-19 patients into these facilities without protecting the other residents, causing thousands of elderly people to die. In this instance, I cannot agree with Dr. Fauci, who has praised New York’s response. Without the New York metropolitan area, US fatalities would be nearly 50% lower in total.
Also, this is not the “Trump” CDC, or the “Obama” CDC, or the Bush or even Clinton CDC. Structural and bureaucratic problems at the CDC/NIH have been there for decades. CDC, in the current crisis, has double-counted cases (lumping both new positive tests and immunology tests together), has pushed states to report “probable” cases which are not confirmed at all, and in some instances is still operating a reporting system by fax and manual input. CDC mishandled the swine flu situation and the Ebola outbreak here in recent memory. This was not the fault of the guy in the White House. And I can remember Dr. Fauci, yes, the same excellent scientist, warning that we would have a massive death rate from AIDS. Every death is tragic, but fortunately he was wrong that time too.
Another problem is the “not invented here” mentality which we are seeing from the medical experts. If something has not been through the rigorous CDC/NIH routine of extensive double-blind testing, which usually takes years, it is not considered a valid treatment, no matter how many foreign reports there are on its efficacy. Those third-world doctors can’t possibly know better than our experts, even though many are Western-trained and are saving lives.
If we had only protected the most vulnerable (the elderly and those with compromised immune systems and serious diseases), encouraged lots of hand-washing and avoidance of large crowds, paid for generous sick leave for people to actually stay home when they’re sick, and otherwise let healthy younger people get on with their lives, we would be in much better shape both medically and emotionally at this point. The despair among children and young people locked out of schools when they are at extremely low risk, the despair among young adults out of work, are terrible side effects of what we have done.
I know I’m in the minority here. Sorry! I try to look at data and not emotional reactions, which are very understandable. I was scared, too, until I began to understand this disease better. I’m still stuck with restrictions because I’m 71 years old, but I accept my responsibility to take care of myself. I am very distressed for the kids and parents I know here in my neighborhood who are trying to cope with a world without school and a social life, and for the people I know who are trying to cope with life without jobs, when all of the above, at their ages, are at less risk of dying from COVID than they are from traffic accidents.
Oh, and it’s my age group who will get the vaccine first, I guess. I’ll probably take the risk.
Kathy, I don’t agree with you completely, but I really love the thought you have put into your response to my posting. To me, that is what is important. I get worked up about certain things, and healthcare and denial and failure to act appropriately (as in the case of Thalidomide) is what gets me in particular. Overpriced and outpriced medicines also get me – propfits are ncessary, but not as in the case of the epipen and insulin (people not able to afford meds that are OTC in Canada).
In general, I believe we have a very poor situation with federal leadership. Corruption and toadying are the norm with few who survive the autocracy currently in rule and fighting to stay put. I am truly disappointed as are many. Showmanship and noise is what we have; we do not have leadership with thought and rationality.
That said, keep posting your replies. I like it when people do remark. If I open up a bit of dialog or someone shows me another viewpoint that I have not considered, I am happy to listen (or read!). Learning and understanding.
Thanks for your irenic response, N. I considered carefully before posting at all. But because of my age and, therefore, vulnerability, I am taking this situation very seriously. I am deeply concerned about the amount of misinformation in play nationally, and about decisions which have been made which have had very negative effects without valid data to support them. I do not, as you can tell, support the “lockdowns,” and there is not statistical data to prove that they worked. Social distancing, hand washing, having the vulnerable avoid large gatherings, yes; shutting down the economy and putting those at minimum risk out of work, no.
You will be surprised, perhaps, to learn that I think the corruption and toadying is in the existing federal bureaucracy, which is digging in its heels and trying to prevent improvements or changes being made. The administrative state doesn’t want anyone from outside to mess with its sand box.
Anyhow, thanks for taking my contrarian opinions in good heart. One of the worst aspects of all this mess is people deciding that opposing viewpoints are not acceptable to be discussed. I hope never to reach that point.
Kathy, I really LIKE your viewpoints as you make valid statements – you don’t blither, and you think about your words. Definitely much enjoyed on my side.
What is interesting about the lockdowns is that it delayed the rapid spread we are seeing today. In a new situation I think it makes sense. Now they are finding the biggest things that help are handwashing, masks, and distancing, as you mentioned. Time is always the best way to deal with things, and I am glad caution in many areas has prevailed. Now, with studies and time, we are finding what works and what does not. It may help with the next pandemic as wisdom (I hope!) will work with us, not against us.
Keep commenting – I do enjoy it! xox