 Kelsey's insistence that the drug should be fully tested prior to approval was vindicated when the births of deformed infants in Europe were linked to thalidomide ingestion by their mothers during pregnancy. Researchers discovered that the thalidomide crossed the placental barrier and caused serious birth defects. She was hailed on the front page of The Washington Post as a heroine for averting a similar tragedy in the U.S. Morton Mintz, author of The Washington Post article, said "[Kelsey] prevented … the birth of hundreds or indeed thousands of armless and legless children." Kelsey insisted that her assistants, Oyam Jiro and Lee Geismar, as well as her FDA superiors who backed her strong stance, deserved credit as well. The narrative of Dr. Kelsey's persistence, however, was used to help pass rigorous drug approval regulation in 1962.
