> Meet Frances Kelsey > Joined the FDA in 1960 > Got assigned a drug application > For a product sold worldwide > Thalidomide > The company wanted American approval > Said the evidence supported its safety > Kelsey wasn't convinced > Asked for scientifically reliable data > The company kept pushing > Sent more material > Pressured her to approve it > She kept asking for evidence > Kept the application from going through > Researchers then found a devastating link > Thousands of babies had severe birth defects > Their mothers had taken thalidomide > The US marketing application never passed > 1962, President Kennedy honors her work > Her stand helped change drug regulation An FDA reviewer asking for better evidence helped prevent a far larger American tragedy.

If I can buy a plane ticket, book a hotel, or finance a car while seeing the price before I commit, why is healthcare the one place where I have to agree first and find out the price later? We somehow decided this is normal because it happens in a hospital. It is not normal.

In most of Europe, the menu price includes the tax and the service. Tipping is optional too. In America, somehow finishing dinner means it is time to calculate tax, tip and whether 20% is still enough.

I'm American. I lived in Europe for years. 10 things Europeans do that still blow my American mind today: 1. In Denmark, parents let babies outside cafés while they’re inside eating (even in the freezing snow)