Frankie: How One Woman Prevented a Pharmaceutical Disaster

by James Essinger, Sandra Koutzenko

Ten million thalidomide pills had already been produced for distribution in the United States when it was first submitted to the FDA for approval. The morning sickness wonder drug had been approved for sale in Germany, Canada, and the UK, and the drug's distributors assumed that it would be no different in the United States. The answer they received was unexpected and it needed more testing.

It later came to light that thalidomide was causing severe birth defects throughout the world, and that Frances Kelsey, the FDA pharmacologist who had denied the drug's approval, was in fact a hero. Her courageous and unwavering integrity proved to be decisive in preventing one of the greatest pharmaceutical disasters of the twentieth century.

Now, in this first ever biography, the fascinating and unlikely hero is portrayed in full detail. Read about the quiet, matter-of-fact woman who stood up to a major pharmaceutical company, did her job in the face of enormous pressure, and when presented with the highest civic honors, credited her whole team with the accomplishment. It's an incredible story of integrity in the moment of truth, of the power of humble courage, and of hundreds of thousands of lives saved by an ordinary woman.

Genres: Nonfiction, Science, Biography, History

272 pages, Hardcover

First published April 15, 2019

About the author

Hi! My name is James Essinger and I'm a writer of fiction and non-fiction.

In my fiction I have a particular interest in personal relationships, travel, history, information technology and chess.

In my non-fiction I have a particular interest in the history of computing, and in language.

I was born in Leicester in the English Midlands in 1957 and I attended Overdale Junior School in Leicester and also Wyggeston Grammar School for Boys. After a year between school and university, I studied English Language and Literature at Lincoln College, which is part of the University of Oxford.

After leaving university I taught English in Finland for three nine-month sessions. I learnt Finnish, and I still speak Finnish fairly fluently. I also speak German and French.

My interests, aside from writing, include: my friends, movies, travel, chess and history.

Reviews

[Krisanne Lane · Rating 2 out of 5]

I don’t understand how such an interesting situation in history could be written in such a dry, boring book. The authors were clearly just trying to make a word count. They spent pages speculating on where and how Frankie fished in Canada. So many pages had nothing to do with the scientist herself or the situation. There’s got to be better books on the subject.

[Kristin Polseno · Rating 2 out of 5]

I really wanted to like this one.... and there are aspects of the book I did like. The subject is certainly fascinating but horrific. There is one thing that I struggled with while reading this one:
It was exceedingly repetitive. The authors included transcripts from phone conversations or excerpts from letters and instead of weaving them into the narrative they summarized them ad nauseam. So the primary sources were included yet they would literally summarize and repeat almost word for word what they had shared one paragraph above. I found myself saying over and over, “didn’t I JUST read this???”

[Pam Porter · Rating 3 out of 5]

Dr. Francis Kelsey's story is amazing! I knew a lot about her and the thalidomide/FDA story before I read this book and I wanted to give this book a 5-star for the topic -- but it is not well-written. It reads like part of a research thesis, not a polished novel. It is very repetitive and seems to be "stretched" to fill 230 pages.

[Tim Vermande · Rating 4 out of 5]

https://flyingkittymonster.blogspot.c...

[Christy Tidwell · Rating 2 out of 5]

Interesting