Steph, obviously I wasn’t a blog reader back in 2008. I hadn’t realised you too had written on this subject. We definitely sing from the same hymn-sheet on this subject

Ivo, welcome to the blog. From reading your comments and the various links, I understand you are in the Philippines, living with the effects of thalidomide.

I can understand why you would be angry.

This comment has, like all comments, been deleted since it was posted:
Thalidomide was definitely known in the year 1938 and [its] defects were noted in Phoenix, AZ (USA) in a medical journal that year. It was known as a cure for {Hansen]’s Disease and made by [RICHARDSON-MERRELL Co.] in [Cincinnati], OH (USA). I don’t know what action was taken, but a young female doctor named Frances Oldham Kersey (or Kelsey) recognized its dangers. Theodore, Princeton, WV/USA
(comment under From The Times April 4, 2008 Thalidomide: 50 years on victims unite to seek more compensation Nigel Hawkes, Health Editor
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/health/article3671815.ece

Now:
CENTRAL NERVOUS SYSTEM EFFECTS OF THALIDOMIDE
J Pharmacol Exp Ther, October 1961
http://jpet.aspetjournals.org/content/134/1/60.full.pdf
(one must pay to read the article for 24 hours)

This article of the Journal of Pharmacology ET says that its authors
Kuhn and Van Maanen are working for the
Department of Pharmacology,
The Wm S. Merrell Co. Div. of RICHARDSON-MERRELL [capitalisation mine], Inc.,
Cincinnati, Ohio.

The note on the first page of the article, page 60 of the volume of the Journal, says that:
Kevadon is the trademark of The Wm. S. Merrell Co., Division of Richardson-Merrell, Inc.,
and
CONTERGAN [capitalisation mine] is the trademark of the National Drug Co. Division of RICHARDSON-MERRELL [capitalisation mine ]Inc., for their brands of thalidomide.

I thought Contergan was the name used for thalidomide in … Germany.

And Richardson-Merrell dared still to say that in October 1961?

Video why they needed thalidomide
Posted by Ivo Cerckel on September 27th, 2009
http://bphouse.com/honest_money/2009/09/27/video-why-they-needed-thalidomide/
SNIP
Watch this Canadian video.
Here’s why our Masters did it.
A B-word in the plural comes to mind.

De l’efficacité des prothèses
Date de diffusion : 21 février 1964
http://archives.radio-canada.ca/sante/sante_publique/dossiers/65-865/
UNSNIP

4 Responses to “Video why they needed thalidomide”
SNIP
1. Ivo Cerckel Says:
September 28th, 2009 at 09:19
The video clearly says that (the effects of) thalidomide was (were) known since many years and certainly before 1957.

The whistle on thalidomide was blown at a Düsseldorf congress of neurologists on 30 April – 01 May 1960.

Carmel was born in July 1962,
that’s more than TWENTY-SIX MONTHS later.

So more than SEVENTEEN MONTHS after the whistle,
Carmel’s mother could still obtain thalidomide
in chemist shops over the counter.

Why do we need guv’mint?

At the end of the day, I wonder whether this is not the essence of Carmel’s story in the article about her struggle:
There were countless plaster casts made, prostheses, splints and braces fitted. No one listened when I tried to say that I preferred to use my own limbs. My mother understood but felt powerless to disagree with the so-called professionals.

That’s why they did it [at Heidelberg].

Témoignage thalidomide – Les Monstres de Heidelberg
Originally posted by Ivo Cerckel on September 2nd, 2009
http://bphouse.com/honest_money/etat-belge-assassin-softenon-no-good-and-evil-for-who-hence-thalidomide-i-am-a-thalidomide-monster-because-of-who-thalidomide-shame-non-compensation-thalidomide-victims-of-debt-driven-polit/

The Irish government has not only failed to apologise, they’ve reneged on the promises they made (back in the 1970’s), that they would provide all the equipment necessary to help those suffering because of Thalidomide, to lead as normal a life as possible.

Lily, I wrote about this back in 2008 and it’s very sad to learn that the ITA is still fighting for justice…

http://biopsy.wordpress.com/2008/10/12/a-life-of-struggle/

He is somebody who really needs help.