British government apologizes and designates funds to Thalidomide victims

January 14, 2010 by Shawn Douglas
Filed under: News

The British government has apologized to Thalidomide victims nearly 50 years after it was pulled from the market for its side effects.

On Thursday, the Britain’s Health Minister Mike O’Brien read a statement to parliament, apologizing to those born with birth defects caused by the drug Thalidomide.

“The government wishes to express its sincere regret and deep sympathy for the injury and suffering endured by all those affected when expectant mothers took the drug thalidomide between 1958 and 1961,” said O’Brien.

Thalidomide, manufactured by the U.K.’s Distillers Biochemicals, was banned in Britain in 1961 after a vocal group of campaigners brought attention to its side effects. The drug, taken for morning sickness by pregnant women, was found to cause birth defects like stunted limbs, missing limbs and brain damage.

O’Brien also announced the release of 20 million pounds to help Britain’s 466 surviving “Thalidomiders.”

“The scheme will be operated by the Thalidomide Trust,” explained O’Brien. “It will use its considerable expertise and knowledge of its members’ needs to distribute money to survivors. They, in turn, will invest the money in adaptions and other preventative measures that are likely to reduce long-term demands on the NHS.”

In the 1970s, campaigners like journalist Harold Evans of the Sunday Times fought to spread awareness and bring some kind of justice to Thalidomide victims. A 28 million pound settlement was reached, but the British government hasn’t offered any kind of apology until Thursday.

Nicholas Dobrik, an employee of the Thalidomide Trust, told the Washington Post, “I’ve had letters from parents of babies who died at the time, saying this apology means a great deal to them as well.”

Guy Tweedy, an activist from Harrogate, told the AFP: “I’m highly delighted and so glad that it actually came, 50 years too late but never mind. It’s an apology not just to Thalidomide victims but to the parents and parents who lost their children in the early days.”