When Cincinnati-based pharmaceutical company William S. Merrell applied for Food and Drug Administration approval for a German-made sedative in late 1960, it expected the application to sail through the process and be on store shelves in time for Christmas. The drug, thalidomide, was not approved that year or the next. A persistent medical reviewer at the FDA kept the drug from being approved for general use. Dr. Frances Oldham Kelsey's actions fundamentally changed the agency's testing and approval process, leading to the robust regulations that exist today. President John F. Kennedy publicly praised Kelsey for sparing "us this terrible human tragedy which has been visited on families in Germany." Except that wasn't entirely true... https://www.npr.org/2026/09/26/nx-s1-5979047/us-thalidomide-survivors-want-recognition-government #Thalidomide #BirthDefects #WilliamS.Merrell #pharmaceutical