High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles! Frances Kathleen Oldham Kelsey, Ph.D., M.D., (born 24 July 1914) is a pharmacologist, most famous as the reviewer for the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) who refused to authorize thalidomide for market because she had concerns about the drug`s safety. Her concerns proved to be justified when it was proven that thalidomide caused serious birth defects. Kelsey`s career intersected with the passage of laws strengthening the FDA`s oversight of pharmaceuticals.