I heard part of an interview with Thomas Quasthoff on the radio last weekend. I'm not into opera, but his voice and presence is amazing. I became aware of Quasthoff several years ago when he gave an interview on TV....perhaps it was 60 minutes? I don't remember for sure anymore.
His biography is compelling, and illustrates the importance of stereochemistry in drug manufacture. In recent years there has been some argument about whether the FDA is too slow to approve drugs; too careful about approvals. Maybe, but maybe not. In the case of thalidomide I think everyone would agree there are many who were spared a difficult life because the FDA hesitated. Unfortunately in many other countries it was approved without sufficient testing.
2 comments:
You are so right and the FDA is to be eternally admired for its caution. In the UK a long legal battle eventually got compensation for thalidomide babies but in Germany, where Quasthoff was born, no such compensation was made. To add insult to injury he was refused a university place to read music because he cannot play an instrument. He had to take private lessons at his own expense.
An English professor of mine at OIT was a thalidomide baby, he had a tiny hand on his left and that was it. He got lucky I guess considering how bad some of those babies with only flippers turned out. This man challenged his "disability" by learning the guitar and piano in spite of it all. The FDA really saved us there but such caution makes me wonder if we are at times keeping our selves from other improvements as well. I remember a news cast years back talking to a few EMTs who got to sample a few products and loved them but the final word from the FDA was no and they had to give up tools that they said worked a great deal better. Oh well, no one is perfect, and if you look at how long we live these days compared to previous generations I think we are doing pretty good.
Post a Comment