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Thalidomide victims launch new Diageo lawsuit
Victims who suffered effects of the dangerous morning sickness drug Thalidomide have launched a fresh legal bid against Diageo, which acquired the drug’s distributor in the 1990s.
Thalidomide victims in the UK have launched new legal action in the High Court against Diageo
According to the BBC, eight people in the UK with a range of disabilities resulting from the drug have begun legal proceedings in the High Court against Diageo and Grünenthal, the German company that manufactured Thalidomide.
This drug was distributed internationally during in the late 1950s and early 1960s by The Distillers Company, which became part of Diageo in 1997. As such, Diageo was not directly responsible for distributing Thalidomide.
Its use by expectant mothers experiencing morning sickness caused thousands of babies to suffer severe birth defects such as malformation of the limbs, blindness and deafness.
Of the 10,000 reported Thalidomide victims, only 50% of these babies are thought to have survived.
Some of the recent claimants were rejected by a charitable scheme called the Thalidomide Trust which set up by The Distillers Company, and which is now run independently, that compensated 460 UK survivors in 1973, the BBC claims.
Fraser Whitehead, a lawyer at Slater and Gordon, which is representing the claimants, said: “Grünenthal and Distillers have always claimed that the Thalidomide disaster was an unavoidable tragedy and that they did everything expected of drug companies at the time. Our research has demonstrated that is nonsense.
“Both companies knew their drug was causing severe nerve damage and both were explicitly warned of the possibility Thalidomide might cause severe malformations. Yet the drug was left on the market for many months afterwards.
“It is time those responsible are finally held to account for the mistakes of the past.”
In December last year, Diageo reached a AUS$89 million legal settlement with Thalidomide victims in Australia and New Zealand.
In response the this fresh legal bid, the UK drinks giant said that it “takes any matter relating to Thalidomide injured people very seriously” and they the company has a “long track record of doing the right thing”.
Diageo has a long-standing relationship with Thalidomide Trust, to which it has donated £60 million.