Thalidomide group claims compensation offer ‘derisory’

THE Irish Thalidomide Association has described as ‘derisory’ Government support measures for the survivors of the Thalidomide drug in Ireland.

The Government compensation package has left those affected “shell-shocked and very disappointed”, the ITA said yesterday.

The association said it will recommend rejection of the compensation package – lump sums of €62,500 for each of the 32 people affected, plus an annual sum of up to €3,680 each to members.

Health Minister Mary Harney announced the measures earlier this week following a meeting with members of the association and a review by the State Claims Agency. The ITA was seeking compensation, an apology and an explanation for how the state handled the Thalidomide scandal in the 1960s.

Children born to women who took the drug while they were pregnant suffered problems, including missing or shortened limbs, missing ears and hearing as well as internal problems. The survivors are all now in their late 40s.

Finola Cassidy, chairwoman of the association, said members had not been listened to in any constructive manner. “We are quite shell-shocked and very disappointed with this deal,” she said. “The way it was handled piled insult on top of injury.”

The drug, which was used to treat morning sickness and resulted in thousands of children being born deformed, was withdrawn in December 1961 by the German pharmaceutical company Chemie Grünenthal, but the Irish Department of Health did not notify doctors and hospitals until July 1962.

Cabinet files from 1973 and 1974 indicate the Department of Health failed to immediately warn the public about the dangers of the drug when it was withdrawn because “suspicions” about it had not been confirmed.

A previous settlement for those affected by Thalidomide was made in 1975. Individuals received lump sums of between £6,600 and £21,300 and a monthly allowance for life of between £31.75 and £95.

In a statement yesterday, the ITA said the situation has been compounded by the continued refusal by the Government of access to department records associated with the 1975 settlement.

“It should be noted that there was a refusal by the Minister for Health and Children to deliver access to such documentation,” said the ITA. “Access was required for the purposes of interacting with the State Claims Agency. It turned out that the State Claims Agency did not wish the involvement of the Irish Thalidomide Association... in the circumstances that merited a comprehensive review.”

Ms Cassidy said: “The big difficulty is that we have not been included in the process. We tried for nine months to be part of the current process by the State Claims Agency. We made one submission, we had one meeting last July and we sought clarification then but there has been no real contact since then. We think that, 35 years on, this lack of interaction with Thalidomide children is extraordinary.”

Ms Cassidy said that, in contrast to the situation in the Republic, Thalidomide survivors in Britain and the North were able to put their case fully to the British government minister.

* From injury to insult – the Thalidomide fallout in Ireland, tomorrow in the Irish Examiner.