Gruenenthal's thalidomide apology 'insulting'

The latest on the ongoing painful saga for the thalidomide survivors. An "apology" is finally released from the company, Gruenethal, 50 years after the firs cases appeared.

The company which invented thalidomide has "insulted" those affected by the drug by issuing an "insincere" apology, campaigners have said. The drug, sold in the 1950s as a cure for morning sickness, was linked to birth defects and withdrawn in 1961. German-based Gruenenthal has issued its first apology in 50 years, but said the drug's possible side-effects "could not be detected" before it was marketed.

But the UK's Thalidomide Trust said any apology should also admit wrongdoing. Nick Dobrik, a member of the trust's national advisory council, said it "should be an unreserved apology, not a conditional apology".

"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."

www.bbc.co.uk...

I feel so bad for those who survived and have to survive daily with the horrifying effects of the drug. I would have preferred not to be born I think.

There is more information on the saga here.
www.abovetopsecret.com...
www.abovetopsecret.com...
www.abovetopsecret.com...

In the United Kingdom, the drug was licensed in 1958. Of the approximately 2,000 babies born with defects, 466 survived.

en.wikipedia.org...

I think they owe a lot more than an apology......

They’re admitting that the "drug's possible side-effects "could not be detected" before it was marketed”... If so, why was it marketed at all? Why was allowed to be sold in the first place, if they had no idea what harm it could cause? Is that not an act of negligence to put out a drug without knowing its side affects?

Probably the most horrible event in medical history.God forgive the bastards responsible for i would throw the fiends off a building with pleasure.And where were the FDA?

Originally posted by RealSpoke

In the United Kingdom, the drug was licensed in 1958. Of the approximately 2,000 babies born with defects, 466 survived.

en.wikipedia.org...

I think they owe a lot more than an apology......

Indeed.

www.abovetopsecret.com...

scienceinsociety.northwestern.edu...

Thalidomide first entered the German market in 1957 as an over-the-counter remedy, based on the maker’s safety claims. They advertised their product as “completely safe” for everyone, including mother and child, “even during pregnancy,” as its developers “could not find a dose high enough to kill a rat.” By 1960, thalidomide was marketed in 46 countries, with sales nearly matching those of aspirin.

At the time, clinical trials did not require FDA approval, nor were they subject to oversight. The “clinical trials” of thalidomide involved distributing more than two and a half million tablets of thalidomide to approximately 20,000 patients across the nation—approximately 3,760 women of childbearing age, at least 207 of whom were pregnant. More than one thousand physicians participated in these trials, but few tracked their patients after dispensing the drug.

The FDA still uses the trials done by the companies themselves today, which many are falsified, giving us a continual barrage of dangerous medications and treatments.

reply to post by Gridrebel


I understand there were different practices 50 years ago but all of these trials and guidelines just seem like basics.

The US did not use the drug though, thankfully for you guys.

Several countries never approved the drug, or restricted its use. Ingeborg Eichler, a member of the Austrian pharmaceutical admission conference enforced Thalidomide (tradename Softenon) being sold under the rules of Prescription medication and as a result relatively few affected children were born in Austria and Switzerland. In the United States, pharmacologist Frances Oldham Kelsey M.D. withstood pressure from the Richardson-Merrell company and refused Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval to market thalidomide, saying further studies were needed. This reduced the impact of thalidomide in United States patients. Although thalidomide was never approved for sale in the United States, millions of tablets had been distributed to physicians during a clinical testing program. It was impossible to know how many pregnant women had been given the drug to help alleviate morning sickness or as a sedative./ex]

en.wikipedia.org...