V'5 \ Brains Rooairh on Thalidomide.
A !)rii<i Suspected of (’rippling Power
iifi'i! I
By the .4
An Arizona housewife who took
the drug thalidomide, suspected
crippler r‘ unborn children, has
lost a court buttle for a legal abor
tion
A 1 tv. 'St simultaneously. New
York City authorities disclosed that
an armless, legless baby had been
born to a Queens housewife who
took the drug. The child lived less
than an hour. It was tin city < first
reported death involving thalido
na: e.
Tin American Medical Assn, be
gun iirensive research into the
drug and its effects.
A congressional hr-r'r. : wa;
sc .inlecl for Wednesday t ■ in
quire into what one senator ealle
serious communication weaknesses
concerning the drug's suspected
crippling power.
The Food and Drug Administra
tion said thalidomide pills had beer
distributed by doctors in 39 stages
and the District of Columbia, al
though none had been sold com
mercially.
T’i one of the states, the New
York City Health Department said
a 37-year-old Queens woman, who
reportedly took 90 thalidomide pills
before and during pregnancy, gave
birth July 21 to a deformed baby
which lived only about 40 minutes.
In Phoenix. Ariz.. Superior Court
Judge Yak' McFate dismissed a
sui* by television personality Sherri
Finkbine who sought to legalize
the abortion she had planned.
‘•wise Sherri." star of a Phoenix
kiddie show, took thalidomide,
which has been blamed for mal
formation of thousands of new
born infants, mostly in Europe
Mrs. Finkbine and her husband
said they didn’t want to risk such
a birth.
The couple said Tuesday thee
would go elsewhere — t-> "a mor*.
favorable legal climate” — to sed
an abortion.
All 50 states prohibit abortfions
Arizona, and some others, allow
exceptions only if the life of the
mother is endangered.
The judge noted that Arizona
law concerning abortion was not
challenged in Mrs. Finkbine’s suit.
He said the plaintiff sought only
to have the court determine that
a "miscarriage'’ was necessary tr
save Mrs. Finkbine's lift'.
McFate added that the suit con
tained no controversy and there
fore his court had no jurisdiction
in the matter.
In New York, the city’s acting
Health Commissioner said the
woman whose deformed baby died
had taken thalidomide on die ad
vice of a Park Avenue psychiatrist
wh ' had ordered the drug from a
pharmacy in Germany.
In Chicago, the American Medi
cal Assn, said it assigned ids coun
>i on drugs to do the research on
haalidomide. The drug has been
r -e’er clinical ('valuation since 1956,
the \MA said, but it hopes the
council's study will provide in
formation on congenital malfor
mations and that “appropriate
measures will be developed to safe
uard our population.”
Sen. Hubert Humphrey. iD
Minnh, whose Senate Government
Operations Subcommittee will open
hearings on thalidomide, made the
comment on “serious communica
tion weaknesses” involving the
drug,
Humphrey, the subcommittee's
chairman, said hearing witnesses
will include Dr. Frances Kelsey.
She is the Food and Drug Admin
istration physician who blocked
distribution of thalidomide in this
country after being alerted to its
potential danger by what the sen
ator called her “chance reading”
of a British medical journal article.
In Juneau, Alaska, Dr. F,. O.
Wicks, chief of that state's Di
vision of Public Health, said he
was "inclined to doubt that any
of the drug was distributed in
Alaska, because we have not en
countered a single doctor who had
the drug available.”
Wicks said his division was not
aware of any sample mailouts of
’he drug ! ■ Alaska either, although
he declint d to state categorically
“'at the drug had not been used
in Alaska.
MANY TOURISTS HERE
A large group of tourists pass
ed through here yesterday, several
parties among whom were Ruth
Waterman of Cincinnati, Ohio;
Mrs. Barbara Musgrave, Sweet
Home, Ore.; Mr. and Mrs. Wayne
Sandage. Clever. Mo.
TEST SOUND WAVES ON CANCER — Dr. H. Davis Chipps (left)
and Dr. Walter A. Ricker, associate pathology professors at Univer
sity of Washington, Seattle, test a scarce ultrasonic generator on a
mouse with cancer. Equipment, built with American Cancer Society
funds, creates sound waves 20,000 times more shrill than the human
ear can hear. Tests are to determine If cancer can be destroyed
without damaging normal tissue.
Eskimo Trainees
hi Eleelronies \\ iH
■Visit \\ il!i Kennedy
WASHINGTON i.P — A visit j
Thursday with President Kennedy
will highlight a two-day visit by
a group of Indian and Eskimo
trainees in electronics from Alaska,
the Interior Department announced
Monday.
The five Indians and three Es
kimos have received training for
defense and communications jobs
in Alaska under a cooperative
program arranged by the Bureau
of Indian Affairs and the Radio j
Corporation of America.
The trainees are the first con
tingent to complete training under
the agreement concluded about 18 |
months ago.
All eight of the graduates of the
course at the RCA Institute in
New York will take jobs with j
RCA’s “White Alice" Communi- j
cations System. Begining salaries :
will run from $9,357 to $10,209 a
year.
The graduates, including two
trainees who will complete their
courses later, will also meet with
Philleo Nash, Commissioner of the
Bureau of Indian Affairs, attend
a reception and take a moonlight
cruise on the Potomac Thursday.
They will sightsee Friday and be
luncheon guests of the Alaska con
gressional delegation.
“We in the Bureau of Indian
Affairs are particularly proud that
the first contingent of Alaskan
natives to enter training have all
successfully completed the course
which is exceptionally difficult,"
said Nash.
The eight graduating trainees
are:
Russell W. Atwood, 21, Tlinget
Indian from Ketchikan; Morgan
Aukongak, 19, Eskimo from Nome;
Percy Ipalook, 22, Eskimo from
Kotzebue; Harry Kito. 21, Tlinget
Indian from Petersburg; Sam Kito
dr., 24, Tlinget Indian from Peters- ;
burg; Herman Kita Jr., 20, Tlinget
Indian from Sitka; Arthur H. !
Peterson, 22, Athabascan Indian I
from Fort Yukon, and Joseph j
Pungowiyi, 22, Eskimo from Sa
voonga.
The two trainees who will com
plete their courses later are:
Peter J. Tocktoo, 21, Eskimo
from from Shishmaref, and Gordon
Upicksoun. 21, Eskimo from Point
Lay.
Wanda Gray of the Vocational
Denari.nent at Haskell Institute in
Kansas, which is a school for Es
kimos and Indians, is visiting here
and reports that several young j
people have registered to attend |
school there next fall including |
Allen Rylander and Clarice Hardy, j
Send A
STRONG VOICE
To Congress
Lowell Thomas Jr.
—Paid Advertisement
THE MAN BEHIND.
Scenes in Medicine
Toward the end of summer last year, the tide along the coast of
Texas suddenly began to rise ominously. From Galveston west to
Corpus Christi, the surf pounded the shoreline, spilling over 14-t'oot
breakwaters and smashing docks. Waiting ofT-shore ready to strike
was hurricane Carla, armed with 4(J billion tons of water and
ilL'SlI UCIMJII. V
Then it hit. In its wake, it left |
a topsy-turvy world of roofless j
houses, battered farms, and ;
flooded debris.The damage: more j
than a billion dollars. Within
hours, emergency workers were
on the scene protecting the (lam
aged property, assessing the loss,
and helping to put the wind
lashed p-ieces back together
again. !
Among the men rushed to the j
Texas coast were medical detail
men frqm U. S. pharmaceutical
companies, making sure fresh
stocks would be on hand to re- '
place storm-damaged drugs.
For detailmen, the assignment !
was not unusual. Normally, they j
do not follow hurricanes—their j
job is to provide physicians with
information on new drugs, their
dosages, usage, and limitations
and, in addition, help service re
tail and hospital pharmacies.
However, in times of emergen
cies, such as Hurricane Carla,
they are often called upon to
speed up the flow of life-saving
drugs into disaster areas and re
place damaged goods.
Detailing is a full-time job,
and in the U.S., it requires the
services of an estimated 15,000
men, almost all of them college
graduates. After joining phar
maceutical companies, detailmen
are given class room instruction
and on-the-job training in medi
cine, anatomy, physiology, phar
macology, and related sciences.
A typical example is Harold
Tilson, of Wanamassa, N. J., a
detailman who has worked for J.
B. Roerig and Company for the j
past eight years. Back in high i
school he was keenly interested
in chemistry and majored in the j
NOT IN THE SCRIPT
VENTURA, Calif. UP — Despite
the television show’s name—“Rip
cord” — it wasn't in the script
when three cast members para
chuted to earth Tuesday.
A sequence to be filmed entailed
a stuntman climbing from one
plane to another at 5,000 feet.
The planes — buffeted by a
strong wind — bumped and were
thrown out of control.
While a cameraman in a third
plane dutifully recorded the un
scheduled jumps, stuntman Lyle
Cameron, 31, and pilots Howard
Curtis, 23, and Cliff Winters, 33,
hit the silk.
The two single - engine planes
crashed 20 miles st >utheast of here
in an uninhabited area.
The men reported no injuries.
I
subject at Cornell University.
lie was sent to the Pacific The
atre during World War II and
afterwards he worked briefly for
a medical supply house and then
worked as a medical detailrnan
before coming to Roerig. He is
married and has two children,
Donna, 9, and Alan, 5.
As with other detailmen, Mr.
Tilson visits approximately 350
to 400 doctors and pharmacists
in his 1000-square mile area.
When he talks with physicians,
he may discuss a new drug or a
new clinical report, present doc
tors with copies of recent clinical
papers and drug samples, and
then answer questions.
With the rapid advances being
made in drug therapy today, the
services of detailmen are becom
ing even more vital. A recent
survey confirmed this fact. A
group of physicians interviewed
by a medical marketing journal
reported that they regard detail
men as “an indispensable asset’’
to their medical practice.
—AUTOMATIC SERVI JE—
Dial 2217
' Y, ranee
on
Stove
( ii
[Xj July
fXl Au<i.
Sept.
. . . It’s that time again!
r) OUR PATRONS of past vears
tar ‘
□ □
and to new customers we present
The Season’s
M o s t Beautiful
fillflJSTlMS CARDS
MORE LOVELY THAN EVER !
☆---'it
Come In
and
Make Your Selection Early
The Nome Nugget