Thalidomide

UPDATE: At the time I wrote the blog, Vanity Fair also reported Kushner and Ivanka Trump were on the council. That has changed. See correction below.

Does the word THALIDOMIDE ring a bell? Maybe you have to be of a certain age to remember classmates with flippers instead of arms and hands. 

In the post WWII years, when mothers' little helpers were for everyone, Thalidomide was touted as a non-barbiturate sedative, safe and effective...according to the manufacturer. From a 2009 article in HELIX of Northwestern University.

Thalidomide first entered the German market in 1957 as an over-the-counter remedy, based on the maker’s safety claims. They advertised their product as “completely safe” for everyone, including mother and child, “even during pregnancy,” as its developers “could not find a dose high enough to kill a rat.” By 1960, thalidomide was marketed in 46 countries, with sales nearly matching those of aspirin.                                   

Only there were no clinical trials, no oversight, no collected data. And no mention of side-effects.

Let's back up a minute, just so you know where I'm coming from on this.

The FDA was established in 1906 when President THEODORE (not Franklin D.) Roosevelt, signed the Pure Food and Drug Act into law. Inspired by Upton Sinclair's THE JUNGLE, this was the first US attempt to protect consumers from bad practices in the food chain. Not that it stopped Postville, but who's looking?

In 1938, President FRANKLIN D. Roosevelt signed into law The Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act that banned ridiculous, unproven claims. Not that it has ever stopped anyone from believing all those vitamin supplements really work...but I digress. 

But thalidomide was different. It caused horrific birth defects that would be traced and linked directly to that supposedly safe-for-all drug. It took the Thalidomide Tragedy to spotlight the need for standardization of drug testing and approval protocols. 

In 1959, Senator Estes Kefauver started holding hearings about the pharmaceutical industry. By 1962, the Kefauver Harris Amendment or "Drug Efficacy Amendment" is an amendment to the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act. Thalidomide was the tragedy that forced our government's hand. 

The FDA exists because manufacturers, however noble they think themselves, are basically out there to make a buck. That's all. It has nothing to do with curing anyone of anything. Nope. It's all about making a buck. Just ask anyone who is insulin dependent. The FDA may be slow and in need of an overhaul, but folks, they are all that is standing between us and chloroquine phosphate...the one that's fatal to ingests, but a whole lotta people think because that jackass in the White House said chloroquine....it's the same thing. Guess again. But then, maybe that's evolution in action....death to the dumbest. 

Look, the links are all there. I'm not here to give you a history lesson. I am here to tell you that the world biggest snake oil salesman is sitting in the Oval Office and he doesn't give a shit about anyone but himself and his bank account.  Need proof? Here it is. Here is the committee that's going to decide when the US drops its COVID-19 protections and "opens" again for business:

THIS HAS BEEN DEEMED INCORRECT ONE HOUR

AFTER INITIAL PUBLICATION

THE COUNCIL IS TO BE NAMED ON TUESDAY, APRIL 14TH.

I WILL UPDATE WHEN THE ANNOUNCEMENT IS MADE.

Not even Dr. Fauci is in that group. Come to think of it....not one of them even plays a doctor on TV. And you're gonna trust these people with the health of your family? Really? He coulda appointed Dr. Oz for cosmetics, but he didn't. Not one of these intellectual midgets knows the difference between chloroquine and chloroquine phosphate. 

It is now Tuesday late afternoon and there is still no word on the formation of a council, other than "it is fluid." However, Feckless Leader has announced that as POTUS, he is calling the shots of the states. Um....no. Last time we looked, he had an inauguration, not a coronation. Someone forgot to tell him he's not running the states' shows. 

More updates as they occur.... We'll see. 

UPDATE: I like the original list better. This new one is just off the charts. Seems to include the head of Carnival Cruise Line and a bunch of sports team and casino owners. Nary a scientist or medical person in the lot. Read the NYT for yourself:Trump Announces His ‘Opening the Country’ Council . If you read it, there is no council announced, just a list of people he's planning on talking to. Which means no one is actually coordinating any information. He'll hear something he likes...and then repeat it. Garbled. Greatest Response Ever. 

Folks, there is nothing, and I do mean NOTHING we can do about this until November. 

Until then...stay home until it's safe to come out. Stay away from chloroquine phosphate. Don't believe what you read on social media...except for me, of course... but even then, do your own damn homework. 

Look, most of us are sitting at home a whole lot more than usual. Use the time wisely. Read SNOPES. Read the Washington Post FACT CHECKER. Learn the difference between asshole conjecture, dangerous talk...and facts. Go to the CDC website. Go to the FDA on corona virus. Just don't listen to the snake oil salesmen. If you hear it and you think it's helpful, GOOGLE it. Don't rely on others to tell you what to think...NOT EVEN ME.

And that's all I'm gonna say about it.

The Wifely Person's Tip o'the Week

Do you have an actor in the family, 

someone who breaks into song at the drop of a note?

Cherish their passion. 

One day, they will not be there and 

you will long to hear just one more chorus of

IF I WERE A RICH MAN.

David P. Simon (z"l)
Uncle Tevye
1921-1984