Thalidomide Case
Dr McBride published a letter in The Lancet, in December 1961, noting a large number of birth defects in children of patients who were prescribed Thalidomide. Dr. McBride was awarded a medal and prize money by the prestigious L'Institut de la Vie of the French Government in connection with his discovery. Using the prize money, he established Foundation 41, a Sydney-based medical research foundation concerned with the causes of birth defects. His most notable achievement, with Dr P H Huang, was the discovery that thalidomide caused malformations by interacting with the DNA of the dividing embryonic cells. This finding stimulated their experimentation, which showed that thalidomide may inhibit cell division in rapidly dividing cells of malignant tumors. This work was published in the journal "Pharmacology and Toxicology" in 1999 and has been rated in the top ten of the most important Australian medical discoveries. (The Sydney Morning Herald - 2005)
His theory that damage caused by thalidomide can be passed to offspring has proven highly controversial (see Soft inheritance).
Read more about this topic: William Mc Bride (doctor)
Famous quotes containing the word case:
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