Thalidomide babies

[waltky]

Thalidomide was never approved for use in pregnant women in the United States. (Then where are the apologies from the doctors who prescribed it???)

German drug firm makes 1st apology for thalidomide
Aug 31,`12 -- The German manufacturer of a notorious drug that caused thousands of babies to be born with shortened arms and legs, or no limbs at all, issued its first ever apology Friday - 50 years after pulling the drug off the market.

Gruenenthal Group's chief executive said the company wanted to apologize to mothers who took the drug during the 1950s and 1960s and to their children who suffered congenital birth defects as a result. "We ask for forgiveness that for nearly 50 years we didn't find a way of reaching out to you from human being to human being," Harald Stock said. "We ask that you regard our long silence as a sign of the shock that your fate caused in us."

Stock spoke in the west German city of Stolberg, where the company is based, during the unveiling of a bronze statue symbolizing a child born without limbs because of thalidomide. The statue is called "the sick child" - a name German victims group object to since all the victims are now adults. In German, the name also implies cure. The drug is a powerful sedative and was sold under the brand name Contergan in Germany. It was given to pregnant women mostly to combat morning sickness, but led to a wave of birth defects in Europe, Australia, Canada and Japan. Thalidomide was yanked from the market in 1961 and was also found to cause defects in the eyes, ears, heart, genitals and internal organs of developing babies.

Thalidomide was never approved for use in pregnant women in the United States.

Freddie Astbury, of Liverpool, England, was born without arms or legs after his mother took thalidomide. The 52-year-old said the apology was years long overdue. "It's a disgrace that it's taken them 50 years to apologize," said Astbury, of the Thalidomide U.K. agency, an advocacy group for survivors. "I'm gobsmacked (astounded)," he said. "For years, (Gruenenthal) have insisted they never did anything wrong and refused to talk to us."

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[gallantwarrior]

Very few victims to bring suit?

 

[waltky]

Apology deemed pathetic...

Thalidomide victims reject 'insulting' apology
31 Aug.`12 - Thalidomide survivors on Saturday rebuffed an apology by the German company that manufactured the drug, saying it was an "insulting" response to the thousands born disabled as a result of its use.

In its first apology for the scandal in 50 years, Grunenthal said on Friday it was "very sorry" for its silence towards victims of the drug, which was sold to pregnant women in the 1950s and early 1960s to cure morning sickness. But victims said the apology was too little, too late for the estimated 10,000 children worldwide who were born with defects -- including missing limbs -- after their mothers took thalidomide. "We feel that a sincere and genuine apology is one which actually admits wrongdoing. The company has not done that and has really insulted the Thalidomiders," British victim Nick Dobrik told BBC radio. Victims' charities estimate that there are between 5,000 and 6,000 people still living who were deformed by the drug, which was sold in nearly 50 countries before it was pulled from the market in 1961 amid one of the world's biggest medical scandals.

Thalidomide babies were often born with missing or extremely short arms and legs. Billed as a "wonder drug" to cure everything from morning sickness to insomnia, thalidomide also caused blindness and malformed organs. The countries most affected included Germany, Britain, Japan, Canada and Australia. It was not banned in Canada, Japan and Belgium until 1962. Freddie Astbury, president of the charity Thalidomide UK, said Grunenthal needed to "put their money where their mouth is" and compensate victims rather than simply saying sorry. "If they are serious about admitting they are at fault and regret what happened they need to start helping those of us who were affected financially," said Astbury, who was born without arms and legs after his mother took the drug.

Lawyers for Australian survivors described the belated apology as "pathetic". "It is too little, too late and riddled with further deceit," lawyers for Australian victim Lynette Rowe said in a statement. "To suggest that its long silence before today ought to be put down to 'silent shock' on its part is insulting nonsense. "For 50 years Grunenthal has been engaged in a calculated corporate strategy to avoid the moral, legal and financial consequences of its reckless and negligent actions of the 1950s and 1960s." Rowe's lawyers said it would have been better for Grunenthal to release its private records to the world, including those it recently handed over in a class action led by her.

Court papers used in the case allege that the drug's makers were warned of birth defects some two years before thalidomide was withdrawn from the market. Rowe has reached a multi-million dollar settlement with another firm that distributed the drug, and her case against Grunenthal is currently on hold. A Japanese support group for Thalidomide victims also said the apology was not good enough. "An apology is a matter of course," said Tsugumichi Sato, director-general of "Sakigake" Thalidomide Welfare Centre in Japan, one of the major countries victimised of the drug disaster after Germany and Britain. "The number of victims would have been smaller if the company had stopped its sales earlier," Sato said. "We are closely watching what responsibility the company will take on top of apologies."

Grunenthal's chief executive Harald Stock said on Friday that he wanted to express the company's "sincere regrets" and "deepest sympathies" to those affected by the medical disaster. "We ask that you regard our long silence as a sign of the shock that your fate has caused us," he said at the inauguration of a memorial to victims in Stolberg, western Germany, near Grunenthal's headquarters. "We also apologise for the fact that we have not found the way to you from person to person for almost 50 years. Instead, we have been silent and we are very sorry for that." He spoke as a statue of a little girl with no arms or legs was unveiled at Stolberg. Stock said his firm was taking steps to help thalidomide victims. "We have a responsibility and we face it openly," he said. "We have learned how important it is that we engage in an open dialogue with those affected and to talk and to listen to them."

Thalidomide victims reject 'insulting' apology - Yahoo! News

 

[strollingbones]

it is the reason many women like me....of this age....simply refused to take anything while preggers

too little way too late

 

[Moonglow]

I was lucky my Mom didn't have it given to her.

 

[geauxtohell]

Very few victims to bring suit?

Correct. Because the FDA prevented it.

So when people claim the federal government doesn't do anything right....,

 

[waltky]

Glimmer of hope...

Spain's forgotten Thalidomide victims see glimmer of hope
Fri, 23 Dec 2016 - Thalidomide was withdrawn from sale in most countries in 1961 but was still used in the 1980s in Spain.

For decades, Spain's Thalidomide survivors have been the forgotten victims of a drug that caused deformities in some 20,000 babies worldwide after their mothers took it during pregnancy. Once the drug's disastrous side-effects were revealed, German pharmaceutical company Gruenenthal withdrew it from the market in most countries in late 1961. Survivors in countries such as the UK were recognised and paid compensation. But in Spain hundreds of people who believe their disabilities were caused by the drug remain unrecognised and do not get the special assistance they need to live normal lives. Many were born long after the truth about Thalidomide had been established.

Analia Munoz was born more than 20 years afterwards, in 1983, with short arms and legs, no ankles or hip joints and a cleft palate. Ms Munoz lives at home near Granada with her parents, both in their mid-sixties. Ana Maria, her mother, remembers going to hospital while pregnant and being given medication. But she cannot prove she took Thalidomide. "My husband and I both have to carry Analia up and down the stairs and help her in the bathroom. We have no real life outside the home." Nor does Analia. "I would like to work. I have studied to be a secretary and I once had an interview, but the office wasn't practical for my needs. I am frightened about how I am going to get along when my parents aren't around and I am alone."

Why was Spain so slow to help?

Six decades after Thalidomide was launched in 1956, Spain's political parties have now united in support of proposed new legislation intended to provide the basis of proper assistance and compensation for Spanish survivors. By 2010, the government had recognised just 24 victims, all born in the early 1960s, offering them one-off compensation payments of up to €100,000 (£84,000; $104,000). Rafael Basterrechea, born in 1965, was one of the 24. As vice-president of Avite, the association that represents Spain's Thalidomide survivors, he is scathing about the inaction of successive governments and Gruenenthal's refusal to accept responsibility. "They are waiting for us to die. Gruenenthal makes millions selling its drugs in this country; if the Spanish government put just a little pressure on them, we would get a deal tomorrow," he says.

Sceptical that the government is prepared to help, he calls it a national disgrace that it has taken so long to help an estimated 400 people in a country of 46 million. "Thalidomide was on the state register of official drugs until 1975. It was not made illegal to prescribe until 1985, when a law was passed meaning the doctor had to sign that he accepted responsibility for the effects. Only then, after 1985, do the cases disappear," says Mr Basterrechea.

History of a disaster drug