Thalidomide in Ireland
It’s 50 years since the drug Thalidomide was first prescribed in Ireland.
The drug which was manufactured by the German pharmaceutical company Grünenthal, was used to treat morning sickness in pregnant women with devastating consequences for their unborn child. Some 10,000 affected babies were born worldwide before the drug was withdrawn. It was found that thalidomide crossed the placental wall and impeded the normal growth of the foetus.
There are 32 people living with the consequences of Thalidomide in Ireland.
Thalidomide caused severe foetal damage. We were born without limbs, with limbs foreshortened, with impairments of hearing and vision, as well as injury to internal organs. This caused pain and suffering, not only to ourselves, but also to our parents, siblings and to our own children and partners …
A description of the condition from the homepage of the Irish Thalidomide Association.
An unpublished study entitled “What Has Happened to Them 50 Years On? A Review of Disability in People Affected by Thalidomide” showed that just over a third were no longer working due to their disability. Many found that their disability had worsened. Pain management was found to be a significant problem, with more than half reporting regular pain.
(Source; Irish Thalidomide Association, Irish Times)
One of the authors of the study, a Dublin based GP, has thalidomide.
The Irish Thalidomide Association are in talks with the Department of Health and Children to try to improve the provisions made in 1975 for those affected by thalidomide. That settlement comprised a lump sum and a monthly pension for life, supplementing compensation from the German government, which eventually accepted liability. The Irish government has never accepted liability, the Department of Health being the regulatory authority for drugs at the time. Parents of those affected by thalidomide fought hard for a settlement. The lump sum agreed in 1975, when those affected were only children, was a few thousand euro. Depending on the level of disability, the pension now ranges from €16-€35 per day.
For some, this is their only source of income. It’s really unfortunate that the change in our economic circumstances, coincides with these talks.
In addition, the fact that the level of their disability is increasing with increasing age, was not, nor could not really have been fully foreseen, when the 1975 settlement was agreed.
We are only talking about 32 people!
In writing this piece, I contacted the Irish Thalidomide Association to check a number of facts, including the actual number of people in Ireland with thalidomide, as I had read conflicting numbers. I had a long conversation with a woman who herself has thalidomide and campaigns relentlessly for her fellow sufferers. After a long telephone conversation, I was in awe of her sheer determination, enthusiasm, and eloquence. The Irish Thalidomide Association have a great spokesperson.
Another example of altruism has to be the doctor with thalidomide referred to above, who himself has huge difficulty walking. He did a fund raising cycle in July of this year. His professional work has been with the homeless. The funds were for a mobile outreach clinic for healthcare professionals working on a voluntary basis with the homeless, and women involved in prostitution. Report here
He could teach our government a little … about altruism.
It’s 50 years since the drug Thalidomide was first prescribed in Ireland.
The same time as my mother was pregnant with me and my siblings.
3 Comments »
RSS feed for comments on this post. TrackBack URL
Excellent piece, Lily and well done for highlighting this injustice!
The Irish government should be hung out to dry for it’s shoddy treatment of this small group of sufferers.
The Dept of Health refers to them as ‘victims’ which in itself is an insult to such an inspiring group of people.
The Dept states that it’s mission is “to enhance people’s health and well-being”.
In that case, it should grant redress without delay and compensate sufferers according to the difficulties they face as they grow older.
As you say, the reality hits home when you consider that it could easily have been our lives which were affected by Thalidomide.
How often it happens. Not alone having to deal with a medical challenge, but also an uncaring bureaucracy. It resounds so much of the Hep C scandal. Have no lessons been learned from how that was handled?
[...] I’ve written before about the people suffering the effects of Thalidomide in Ireland [...]