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Frank Berger
Independent, The (London), Jun 13, 2008
When my Sunday Times colleagues and I investigated the thalidomide scandal in the 1970s, it was Frank Berger who gave us the first breakthrough on drug-testing history, writes Bruce Page [further to the obituary by Caroline Richmond, 10 June]. As you say, he developed Miltown (the first tranquilliser) long before Distillers/Grnenthal began touting their harmless wonder-drug.
And as he told us, he tested Miltown for reproductive effect by methods which, used on thalidomide, would have revealed its dangerous character. He considered it normal practice: we then found that Roche had acted similarly with Librium, Valium: also Rhne- Poulenc with Largactil.
Thus Distillers' claim that nobody had ever thought of such a thing before was demolished. There followed much-improved - if still inadequate - compensation for thalidomide's victims.
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