Strong Medicine by Arthur Hailey Page A

who now lived in and took care
    of the children during their parents' absence. Andrew had found her
    through an agency that advertised in medical journals. She was nineteen,
    had previously worked as a shop assistant in London and, as Winnie
    herself put it, she "wanted to
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lave a workin' 'oliday findin' out what you Yanks are like, then maybe
    spend a couple o' years down under with the Aussies." She was cheerful,
    quick and, to Andrew's great joy, whipped up breakfast each morning with
    lightning speed. "Comes o' practice. Did it for me mum at 'ome," she told
    him when he complimented her. Winnie also liked children and Lisa adored
    her. Andrew and Celia hoped that Winnie's departure for Australia would
    be long delayed.
    One other event that came to Celia's attention happened near the end of
    1960. The German drug Thalidomide-to be known in the U.S. and Canada as
    Kevadon-was submitted to the FDA for marketing approval. According to
    drug industry trade magazines, the Merrell Company, which now had North
    American rights, had large-scale plans for Thalidomide-Kevadon, believing
    the drug would be a huge seller, as it was continuing to be in Europe.
    The company was pressing FDA for swift approval. Meanwhile samples of the
    drug--officially for "investigative use," though in fact, without
    restriction -were being distributed to over a thousand physicians by
    enthusiastic Merrell detail men.
    The news reminded Celia of her conversation with Sam Hawthorne eight
    months earlier when he had reported resentment within Felding-Roth
    because, at Celia's suggestion, Thalidomide had been tested only on old
    people, then rejected. She wondered briefly if the resentment still
    remained, then dismissed the subject as unimportant.
    She had other business concerns.
    Following Bruce's birth Celia returned to work more quickly than she had
    after Lisa was born and was back at Felding-Roth by mid-December. One
    reason: it was a busy time in Sales Training. The company was expanding
    and a hundred more detail men were being taken on-plus, at Celia's
    urging, some detail women, though only a half dozen. Also contributing
    to her decision was an infectious sense of national excitement. In
    November John F. Kennedy had been elected president and it seemed-from
    the graceful rhetoric at least-as if a new era, stimulating and creative,
    had begun.
    "I want to be part of it all," Celia confided to Andrew. "People are
    talking about 'a new beginning' and 'history in the making' and saying
    it's a time to be young and in charge of something. Going back to work
    means being involved."
    "Uh-huh," Andrew had said, almost indifferently, which was unusual. Then,
    as if realizing it, he added, "It's okay with me." But
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Andrew's mind was not really on Celia's endeavors; he was preoccupied with
    a problem of his own.
    The problem concerned Dr. Noah Townsend, Andrew's senior partner and the
    respected chief of medicine at St. Bede's Hospital. Andrew had discovered
    something about Noah which, ugly and unpleasant, brought into question
    the older man's competence to practice medicine.
    Dr. Townsend was a drug addict.
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    Noah Townsend, now fifty-eight, had for many years appeared to represent
    everything a seasoned, experienced physician should be. He was
    conscientious, treating all who came to him, whether wealthy or poor, with
    equal concern. His appearance was distinguished; in manner he had always
    been courtly and dignified. As a result Dr. Townsend had a solid practice
    with patients who liked him and were loyal-with good reason, since he
    served them well. His diagnostic skills were regarded as remarkable.
    Townsend's wife, Hilda, once told Andrew, "I've stood with Noah at a party
    and he's looked across the room at a complete stranger and told me
    quietly, 'That man is very ill and doesn't know it,' or another time,
    'That woman over there-I don't know her name, but she's going to die in
    six months.' And he's always been right.