Jennifer Vanderbes, Writer 

Sloan Grant(s) Received: 2022, Athena Film Festival, Development Award

Project Type: Feature 

Genre: Historical Drama

Length: 120 pages 

Field of Science: Chemistry

Stage: Development 

Synopsis: 

In 1959, a Cincinnati pharmaceutical firm began distributing samples of an exciting new wonder drug already popular around the world. Touted as a sedative without risks, thalidomide was handed out freely, in sham clinical trials, by doctors who believed approval by the Food and Drug Administration was imminent.

But in 1960, when the application for thalidomide landed on the desk of FDA medical reviewer Frances Kelsey, she quickly grew suspicious. When she learned that the drug was causing an epidemic of severe birth abnormalities abroad, she fought tirelessly to stop its sale around the world. This is a David and Goliath tale of a woman whose medical and scientific training helped her expose the biggest pharmaceutical scandal of the 20th century.