A German company called Gruenenthal created a drug called thalidomide. The drug was sold in the 1950’s and 1960’s as a cure for morning sickness. The drug caused severe birth defects in thousands of children. Gruenenthal has now issued an apology.
Thalidomide, a drug created by a German company named Gruenenthal, was intended to be used by women who were pregnant as a cure for morning sickness. It was sold in the 1950’s and 1960’s in 46 countries, including the UK, Australia, and what was, at the time, West Germany. In 1961, thalidomide was taken off the market after it became clear that the drug caused birth defects.
The damage had already been done. By 1961, more than 10,000 babies, worldwide, had been born with disabilities that were caused by exposure to thalidomide. This included shortened arms and legs, blindness, deafness, heart problems and brain damage. There are somewhere between 5,000 and 6,000 people who were affected by thalidomide who still alive today.
The word “thalidomide” has become a shorthand for “don’t take medication while you are pregnant”. It is a horror story that sits in the back of the minds of pregnant women around the world, who are fearful about how a medication they are considering taking – for a cold, an allergy, or something else – could affect their developing baby.
Now, at the end of August of 2012, the pharmaceutical company Gruenenthal has finally issued an apology for the damage that their drug caused thousands of people. The speech was delivered by Gruenenthal CEO Harald F. Stock. A translation of his prepared speech, (according to NPR), includes:
“On behalf of Gruenenthal with its shareholders and all employees, I would like to take the opportunity at this moment of remembrance today to express our sincere regrets about the consequences of Thalidomide and our deep sympathy for all those affected, their mothers and their families. We see both the physical hardship and the emotional stress that the affected, their families, and particularly their mothers, had to suffer because of Thalidomide and still have to endure day by day.”
He also added:
“We also apologize for the fact that we have not found the way to you from person to person for almost 50 years. Instead, we have been silent and we are very sorry for that”.
According to the BBC, other portions of the speech included:
“We ask that you regard our long silence as a sign of the shock that your fate has caused us”.
A sculpture by the artist Bonifatius Stirnberg was created to memorialize the victims of thalidomide. The translation of the text below the sculpture reads: “In memory of the dead and the survivors of the thalidomide catastrophe”. Many people feel that the apology from Gruenenthal should include financial compensation for the people who were affected by thalidomide.
Image by Sebastian Wiertz on Flickr