Looking Back and Looking Forward

Consider the world of the 1950s. Ten percent of American households had a television, which displayed only in black and white. Telephones had rotary dials and party lines, and they were used only for conversation. The average life expectancy at birth was 69 years (1). Massive randomized clinical trials were in progress to test a new vaccine for polio (2) and streptomycin and isoniazid treatments for tuberculosis (3). Heart disease and stroke were gaining recognition as the leading noninfectious causes of death in the United States. Dwight D. Eisenhower was the President. And, were it not for President Eisenhower, I might not have had the opportunity to write this editorial for Preventing Chronic Disease. I am the second child of two remarkable people who came to the United States many years ago. In the early 1950s, as a newly trained and highly skilled biochemist, my father was recruited to be a member of the antibiotic discovery group of Chas. Pfizer & Co., Inc. Because he was a scientist with the specialized skills necessary to fulfill an urgent national need, his application for permanent U.S. residency was rapidly approved. Confident that his wife's and child's applications would also be approved as his dependents, my father left India in 1954 to begin his new job. At the time, a quota system severely restricted the number of immigrants into the United States from non-Northern European countries. Obtaining an immigrant visa involved a mountain of paperwork and numerous clearances. While examining my mother for the medical clearance, the physician in Bombay noticed her slender build and suspected a parasitic infection as the underlying cause. An extensive evaluation ensued, which involved tests for various communicable diseases, including one for tuberculosis (the results were negative) and a prolonged course of empiric treatment for possible dysentery. Obtaining the medical clearance for my mother took a year. By the time she and my sister were approved to travel, their authorization for immigrant visas had expired. With the immigrant quota for South Asian applicants filled for more than 10 years into the future, it appeared unlikely they would ever be able to join my father. Understandably, my father told his supervisor that he planned to return to India. Concerned about losing a valuable employee, Pfizer attorneys contacted Senator Herbert Lehman (D-NY) for assistance. On August 1, 1956, Senator Lehman introduced private legislation (4) which was passed by both houses …