Thalidomide survivors: apology is too little, too late

An April 21, 1969 photo from files showing a view of a laboratory of the pharmaceutical company "Chemie Gruenenthal", in Stolberg, near Aachen, West Germany, during an animal experiment April 21, 1969 as prosecuters came to inspect the manufacturer of the drug Thalidomide, which was prescribed by doctors as harmless sleeping drug to pregnant women and caused the miscarriage and birth of thousands of crippled children. (AP Photo/File)

Survivors of thalidomide, a drug that caused birth defects in thousands of babies worldwide, say an apology from the German company that manufactured the drug is too little, too late.

Gruenenthal Group’s chief executive Harald Stock said Friday that the company is seeking forgiveness from families affected by thalidomide, marketed as a morning sickness drug to pregnant women in the 1950s and early 1960s.

But thalidomide survivor Geoff Adams-Spink says the apology, the company’s first-ever public display of remorse, is merely the first step on the road to forgiveness.

“Our answer is: Great that you’ve made this apology Mr. Stock but no, we can’t move on. Now let’s talk about the next step and the one after, and the one after that,” he told CTVNews.ca in a Saturday phone interview from London, England.

Adams-Spink, now chairman of the European Dysmelia Reference Information Centre, was born with shortened upper limbs. His only eye has limited vision, and as a result he is legally blind.

“I’m living with multiple impairments. That makes a huge amount of difference to the amount of independence I can enjoy, the kind of career options I could consider when I was leaving school. It completely shapes one’s life,” he said.

The drug was sold to women in Canada, Europe, Japan and Australia before it was pulled off shelves in 1961 -- the same year Adams-Spink was conceived.

By then, a number of birth defects had been linked to the drug, including shortened limbs and defects in the internal organs, eyes, ears and genitals of infants.

Adams-Spink says the company was negligent in its testing of thalidomide and should agree to provide compensation to the thousands of families affected by the drug.

Canadian-born victims of thalidomide were awarded “compassionate lump-sum financial assistance grants” in 1991 through the agency now known as Health Canada, according to the Thalidomide Victims Association of Canada.

Similarly, survivors in the United Kingdom have received some assistance over the years through a trust set up by the British distributor of thalidomide.

But those who have to live with the long-term effects of thalidomide say expenses associated with the drug are many and previous compensation hasn’t been sufficient.

Gregor Wolbring, a German-born thalidomide survivor who teaches at the University of Calgary, says Gruenenthal Group must consider the unique needs of “thalidomiders” including special housing and transportation accommodations.

“It makes no difference to me whether they apologize or not,” he told CTV News Channel on Saturday. “There’s much more tangible stuff needed than an apology.”

In Germany, thalidomide was sold under the name Contergan.

Stock delivered his Friday speech in the German city of Stolberg, where the company was unveiling a bronze statue dedicated to babies affected by thalidomide. The bronze statue, called “the sick child,” depicts a child with shortened limbs.

Last July, an Australian thalidomide survivor reached a multimillion dollar settlement with thalidomide’s U.K.-based distributor Distillers Company (Biochemicals) Ltd. and its successor company Diageo Scotland Ltd.,

Gruenenthal Group, a German company, refused to settle.

Thalidomide is still used today as a treatment for multiple myeloma, a bone marrow cancer and leprosy.

The thalidomide disaster prompted sweeping changes to the way pharmaceutical drugs are tested before they hit the market, said Dr. David Juurlink, a drug safety expert and head of clinical pharmacology and toxicology at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre in Toronto.

Although “something as uniformly as dangerous as thalidomide is unlikely to happen again,” drug safety is still an issue today, Juurlink told CTV News.