{"id":1433,"date":"2010-01-15T15:13:38","date_gmt":"2010-01-15T14:13:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.theinjurylawyers.co.uk\/injury-lawyers-blog\/?p=1433"},"modified":"2010-01-15T15:13:38","modified_gmt":"2010-01-15T14:13:38","slug":"government-issues-thalidomide-apology","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.theinjurylawyers.co.uk\/injury-lawyers-blog\/2010\/01\/15\/government-issues-thalidomide-apology\/","title":{"rendered":"Government Issues Thalidomide Apology"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright size-medium wp-image-1439\" title=\"uk-government\" src=\"http:\/\/www.theinjurylawyers.co.uk\/injury-lawyers-blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/01\/uk-government-300x225.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"225\" \/>The <strong><em>government has issued a formal apology to the victims of the thalidomide scandal<\/em><\/strong> in respite efforts following the harrowing affects the drug has had on the victims, according to the BBC (<a href=\"http:\/\/news.bbc.co.uk\/1\/hi\/health\/8458855.stm\">source<\/a>).<\/p>\n<p>Health minister Mike O\u2019Brien on behalf of the government <strong><em>expressed \u201csincere regret\u201d<\/em><\/strong> and \u201cdeep sympathy\u201d to the hundreds of victims of the German developed drug which was used in the 1950\u2019s and 60\u2019s to help pregnant women with insomnia and morning sickness.<\/p>\n<p>It was quite a big story in the last contrary so I am sure many of you are aware of the devastating effects the drug\u2019s use had on the children born from mothers using the drug. <strong><em>Hundreds of children were born with severe limb deformities and internal damage<\/em><\/strong>, and the government has <strong><em>promised more money<\/em><\/strong> to be made available to the remaining 466 survivors. \u00a0Mr O\u2019Brien went on to say that the government acknowledges \u201c<strong><em>physical hardship and the emotional difficulties<\/em><\/strong> that have faced both the children affected and their families as a result of this drug, and the challenges that many continue to endure often on a daily basis.&#8221;<br \/>\n<!--more--><\/p>\n<p>The <strong><em>UK manufacturers of the drug Distillers Biochemicals have paid around \u00a328 million in damages<\/em><\/strong> to the victims in the 70\u2019s following a <strong><em>significant legal battle raised<\/em><\/strong> by the families of the victims. According to the report, this figure has been topped up over the years by the successor company, but the <strong><em>average payout per year to the 466 victims remains at less than \u00a320,000 on average<\/em><\/strong>. A government package of \u00a320m is aiming to continue the top ups for the victims in light of survivors living longer than expected, and therefore requiring further medical treatment and assistance.<\/p>\n<p>Around 7,000 babies were born with significant problems globally, and the Thalidomide Trust which distributes aid to the survivors, are content with the apology despite it coming almost half a century late. The apology is widespread; not just to the surviving victims, but to the parents and families of the children that tragically did not survive.<\/p>\n<p>Scientists believe that the <strong><em>drug hindered the growth of new blood cells<\/em><\/strong>, which led to <strong><em>malformation of the eyes, ears and genitals, as well as internally affecting the heart, kidneys, and digestive system<\/em><\/strong>. Commons affects on babies were <strong><em>missing or deformed limbs<\/em><\/strong>; with many suffering shortening of the arms and the legs.<\/p>\n<p>Manufacturers of drugs (and all products) have a significant <strong><em>duty of care<\/em><\/strong> to ensure that they product they manufacture and distribute is safe to use. Drugs usually go through rigorous testing procedures to <strong><em>ensure that they satisfy health and safety requirements and to prevent anyone from coming to harm<\/em><\/strong>. This is an extreme example of a clear failure to do this, and the victims are all entitled to <a title=\"claim compensation\" href=\"http:\/\/www.theinjurylawyers.co.uk\/100-percent-compensation-4u.php\">claim the compensation<\/a> for their physical and emotional suffering.<\/p>\n<p>If you have suffered as a result of a product (or a drug, as with this case), then you may be entitled to claim for compensation. <strong><em>Speak to an <a title=\"the injury lawyers\" href=\"http:\/\/www.theinjurylawyers.co.uk\/\">expert personal injury solicitor<\/a> to get the advice on what you can do.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Obviously our sincerest sympathies continue to remain with the victims of the thalidomide scandal, and we hope that the governments extended funding scheme will be a satisfactory aid to the continuing suffering of all those involved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The government has issued a formal apology to the victims of the thalidomide scandal in respite efforts following the harrowing affects the drug has had on the victims, according to the BBC (source). Health minister Mike O\u2019Brien on behalf of the government expressed \u201csincere regret\u201d and \u201cdeep sympathy\u201d to the hundreds of victims of the &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theinjurylawyers.co.uk\/injury-lawyers-blog\/2010\/01\/15\/government-issues-thalidomide-apology\/\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Government Issues Thalidomide Apology<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1433","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.7 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Government Issues Thalidomide Apology<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.theinjurylawyers.co.uk\/injury-lawyers-blog\/2010\/01\/15\/government-issues-thalidomide-apology\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Government Issues Thalidomide Apology\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The government has issued a formal apology to the victims of the thalidomide scandal in respite efforts following the harrowing affects the drug has had on the victims, according to the BBC (source). Health minister Mike O\u2019Brien on behalf of the government expressed \u201csincere regret\u201d and \u201cdeep sympathy\u201d to the hundreds of victims of the &hellip; Continue reading Government Issues Thalidomide Apology\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.theinjurylawyers.co.uk\/injury-lawyers-blog\/2010\/01\/15\/government-issues-thalidomide-apology\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"The UK&#039;s No 1 Injury Lawyers Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/ukinjurylawyers\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2010-01-15T14:13:38+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/www.theinjurylawyers.co.uk\/injury-lawyers-blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/01\/uk-government-300x225.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Author\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@InjuryLawBlog\" \/>\n<meta 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