Foundation 41 was a

medical research Medical research (or biomedical research), also known as experimental medicine, encompasses a wide array of research, extending from "basic research" (also called ''bench science'' or ''bench research''), – involving fundamental scientif ...

organisation, principally investigating the causes of mental and physical handicaps in babies, and was based at the

Crown Street Women's Hospital Crown Street Women's Hospital (now-closed) was once the largest maternity hospital in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It was located at 351 Crown Street (corner of Crown and Albion Streets), Surry Hills. The hospital was one of severa ...

, Sydney, Australia. It was founded in 1971 by Dr William McBride and largely supported by the

Apex Clubs of Australia The Association of Apex Clubs of Australia is an Australia-wide association of autonomous clubs dedicated to fellowship, self-improvement, and community service, similar to other service clubs such as Lions International but with a younger mem ...

. The name ''Foundation 41'' derives from the normal duration of

human gestation Pregnancy is the time during which one or more offspring develops ( gestates) inside a woman's uterus (womb). A multiple pregnancy involves more than one offspring, such as with twins. Pregnancy usually occurs by sexual intercourse, but ca ...

(40 weeks) plus the first week of life after birth.

Funding

McBride created Foundation 41 using prize money given by France's L'Institut de la Vie in connection with his discovery that

thalidomide Thalidomide, sold under the brand names Contergan and Thalomid among others, is a medication used to treat a number of cancers (including multiple myeloma), graft-versus-host disease, and a number of skin conditions including complications of ...

(N-α-phthalimidoglutarimide) caused malformations by interacting with the DNA of dividing

embryo An embryo is an initial stage of development of a multicellular organism. In organisms that reproduce sexually, embryonic development is the part of the life cycle that begins just after fertilization of the female egg cell by the male spe ...

nic cells. Ongoing funding was by public philanthropy. This essentially ceased with the Debenox case.

Debenox

McBride's later involvement with Debenox ( pyridoxine/doxylamine) is less illustrious, and had a marked effect on Foundation 41. In 1981 McBride published a paper indicating that the drug Debenox (marketed in the US as Bendectin) caused birth defects. His coauthors noted that the published paper contained manipulated data and protested but their voices went unheard. Multiple lawsuits were undertaken by patients and McBride was a willing witness for the claimants. Eventually, the research was investigated and, as a result, McBride was struck off the Australian medical register in 1993 for deliberately falsifying data. An inquiry determined, "we are forced to conclude that Dr. McBride did publish statements which he either knew were untrue or which he did not genuinely believe to be true, and in that respect was guilty of scientific fraud." McBride was reinstated to the medical register in 1998."Dr. McBride hails end of the affair"
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The Australian ''The Australian'', with its Saturday edition, ''The Weekend Australian'', is a broadsheet newspaper published by News Corp Australia since 14 July 1964.Bruns, Axel. "3.1. The active audience: Transforming journalism from gatekeeping to gatew ...

''.

References

{{reflist 1971 establishments in Australia Medical and health organisations based in Australia Organizations established in 1971 Defunct organisations based in Australia Foundations based in Australia Medical and health foundations

Funding

Debenox

See also

References