Thalidomide
In 1962, the United States found itself transfixed by a crisis involving the medication thalidomide. Marketed widely in Europe for a variety of ailments, including nausea during pregnancy, thalidomide turned out to be a severe teratogen, causing thousands of severe birth defects in Germany alone. Yet as a result of diligence by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), thalidomide was never approved for marketing in the United States.). When the close call came to light, Congress responded by granting the agency new authority, including the unprecedented power to require medications to be proven effective before sale. A key to turning tragedy into progress was the decision to highlight the central role of the FDA reviewer Dr. Frances Oldham Kelsey in protecting the nation.