August 2, 2023
By Maxwell Martin, Drexel University College of Medicine
Helen Brooke Taussig, MD, was a visionary physician who is considered the founder of pediatric cardiology. Born in 1898, she would go on to have a prolific career in medicine at a time when few women were afforded the opportunity. Her academic life as child was complicated by both dyslexia and partial deafness due to an inner ear infection (Van Robays, 2016). She overcame these hurdles and earned her baccalaureate degree from the University of Berkeley. After graduation, she attempted to matriculate to Harvard’s School of Public Health. She was informed that she was welcome to participate in the classes but would be unable to obtain a degree as she was a woman. She would instead enroll at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, where she would attain her medical degree (Van Robays, 2016).
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While Dr. Taussig is most known for her treatment of TOF, she had many further contributions to the field of medicine. Notably, she was involved in the regulation of thalidomide in the United States. When children in Europe were being born with absent arms and legs in the early ’60s, Dr. Taussig travelled to West Germany and determined the most likely culprit to be the ingestion of the sleep aid thalidomide during pregnancy (Van Robays, 2016). She subsequently campaigned against the FDA approval of thalidomide. She wrote many articles and testified to congress advocating for the mandatory labeling of drugs with generic compound names along with stricter safety testing for drugs before they came to market. Her efforts were successful in bringing about legislative change (Van Robays, 2016).
Dr. Taussig’s career is notable for many reasons. Her contributions to pediatric cardiology and pharmaceutical regulation would be admirable for any physician, but she additionally accomplished these feats while fighting against discrimination, deafness and dyslexia. Dr. Taussig left behind a legacy of hard work, advocacy and genuine care for her patients.
Sources/Resources:
- The Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions. (n.d.). The Blue Baby Operation: Online Exhibit. Chesney Archives. Retrieved August 4, 2022, from https://exhibits.library.jhu.edu/exhibits/show/the-blue-baby-operation
- Neubauer, K., & Murphy, A. M. (2013). Helen Brooke Taussig. Advances in Pediatrics, 60(1), 1–9. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.yapd.2013.04.003
- Van Robays J. (2016). Helen B. Taussig (1898-1986). Facts, views & vision in ObGyn, 8(3), 183–187