"I have been involved with writing a guideline relating to ... for hospitals
[in Australia] ...and have been challenged regarding the suitability of
using DomperidoNe in the light of the FDAs warning."

When the FDA decided to switch from protecting the health of US citizens to
instead protecting US drug company financial interests and the current
federal administration's political interests, they chose to throw away a
reputation for integrity and discernment which had heretofore apparently
enjoyed worldwide respect.  Perhaps you could connect the dots of this
crooked political puzzle for those who are taking the FDA warning at face
value.  The glory the FDA basked in when they protected US citizens from
Thalidomide* has been laid waste by their cynical "warning" about
Domperidone.  And we have been left no longer having any hope of an
objective reliable source of food and drug information within the US
government.

"Don't it always seem to go,
That you don't know what you've got 'til it's gone?"
                                                            ---Joni Mitchell

Arly Helm, MS, IBCLC

Thalidomide

In 1960 the widespread use of the drug thalidomide in nearly twenty
countries later yielded a tragic epidemic of limbless babies born to mothers
who thought they were using a mild sedative.

Food and Drug Administration medical officer Dr. Frances Oldham Kelsey
refused approval of thalidomide for distribution in the United States,
despite early news of the drug's success and pressure from its U.S.
manufacturer, The Merrell Company. While the drug's effects on animals
tested negative to malformation, Dr. Kelsey mistrusted the sleeping pill
that did not cause sleepiness in animals.

She was not told that her suspicions were correct when, in November 1961,
West Germany reported to the FDA that thalidomide had been associated with
birth defects. Told instead was The Merrell Company, which had furnished
nearly 1,100 doctors (almost 250 obstetricians and gynecologists) with
samples of the drug. Disbelieving West German evidence, The Merrell Company
wrote only a brief letter of warning to just 10 percent of the physicians to
whom thalidomide was distributed. They were still hoping for the drug's FDA
approval and promising prescription sales.

Thalidomide's danger to pregnant women was not made public in the United
States until 1962, a year after it was recognized abroad. The Washington
Post broke the story about Dr. Kelsey's good judgment, and President Kennedy
ordered a crash program to retrieve all samples of thalidomide. For her role
in preventing thalidomide distribution, Dr. Kelsey received the President's
Award for Distinguished Federal Civilian Service in 1962.

Barbara Seaman  http://makeashorterlink.com/?Y2DC45999

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