Dear Editor,

For all the victims of Thalidamide, an apology 50 years later is too little too late.

As many as a third of the victims of this hideous birth defect did not live to see their first birthday.

Fifty years later, there may be fewer than 10,000 of them still alive.

Did the producers of the drug wait 50 years in the hope of there being fewer of them still alive? Would anyone be surprised if that was the case?

Would anyone be surprised if this apology were to be seen as an overt act of cynicism?

It's about damage control, I'd say.

A doctor who worked for the Food and Drug Administration in the United States would not allow the drug to be okayed for use. Too bad other countries did not have a hard-nosed person who would say, "Not here."

On the other hand, how could anyone really know for sure if it is okay?

Perhaps one takes his/her professional life in their hands to okay a new drug - or not okay it, eh?

Drug companies spend billions in research to find a drug that will perhaps help alleviate a medical problem. It is to be hoped that it will not create another problem as in cause and affect.

Payback time is of course what they hope for, and a monopoly usually gives them some years to recoup their investment, too.

A very healthy bottom line is hoped for.

Robert W. Stirling, Maple Ridge