The unnamed physician who wrote a letter in last week’s Jewish Link (“It’s Time for Kids to Return to Normalcy, With or Without the Vaccine” December 2, 2021) referred to the case of thalidomide as a precedent of a drug whose adverse side effects were not realized until years later. While the case of thalidomide was certainly tragic, it was never approved by the FDA, because there wasn’t sufficient testing to establish that it was safe.

https://www.fda.gov/about-fda/fda-history-exhibits/frances-oldham-kelsey-medical-reviewer-famous-averting-public-health-tragedy

If anything, that case is a proof for trusting the FDA and the standards it uses for approval.