Lynette Rowe in July after her successful action against the suppliers of the drug thalidomide. Photo: Ken Irwin
The mother of Victorian thalidomide survivor Lynette Rowe has broken down in tears, describing drug manufacturer Grunenthal's apology 50 years after pulling the morning-sickness medicine off the market as "insulting".
Speaking next to her daughter, who settled a landmark legal case against the drug's British distributor in July, Wendy Rowe said this afternoon that Grunenthal Group's chief executive Harald Stock's apology in Germany this morning was, "the sort of apology you give when you're not really sorry".
"It's also insulting that he wants us to believe Grunenthal had not apologised for 50 years because it has been in silent shock. I suspect he does not know what shock is. Shock is having your precious child born without arms and legs. It's accepting that your child is not going to have that life that you wanted for her," she said.
"Shock is making sure that your other children don't miss out on happiness and love and affection when you have a profoundly disabled child to look after. Our family couldn't have gone into silent shock. We had to get up and face each day every day and cope with the incredible damage the Gruenenthal had done to Lynne and our family."
Mrs Rowe was unable to finish reading the statement she had prepared and had to be taken away from media and comforted by Peter Gordon from law firm Slater and Gordon who are preparing a class action on behalf of 100 thalidomide victims.
Lawyer Michael Magazanik described Mr Stock's statement as "pathetic".
"This is what happens when a pharmaceutical company kills or maims thousands of people and then needs 50 years to get over it," he said.
Mr Stock had earlier said that Grunenthal wanted to apologise to mothers who took the drug during the 1950s and 1960s and to their children who suffered congenital birth defects as a result.
"We ask for forgiveness that for nearly 50 years we didn't find a way of reaching out to you from human being to human being," Mr Stock said. "We ask that you regard our long silence as a sign of the shock that your fate caused in us."
Stock spoke in the western German city of Stolberg, where the company is based, during the unveiling of a bronze statue symbolising a child born without limbs because of thalidomide. The statue is called "the sick child" - a name German victims group object to since all the victims are now adults. In German, the name also implies cure.
The drug, a powerful sedative, was given to pregnant women mostly to combat morning sickness, but led to a wave of birth defects in Europe, Australia, Canada and Japan. Thalidomide was yanked from the market in 1961 and was also found to cause defects in the eyes, ears, heart, genitals and internal organs of developing babies.
Freddie Astbury, of Liverpool, England, was born without arms or legs after his mother took thalidomide. The 52-year-old said the apology was years long overdue.
"It's a disgrace that it's taken them 50 years to apologise," said Astbury, of the Thalidomide UK agency, an advocacy group for survivors. "I'm gobsmacked (astounded)," he said. "For years, (Gruenenthal) have insisted they never did anything wrong and refused to talk to us."
Astbury said the drug maker should apologise not just to the people affected, but to their families. He also said the company should offer compensation. "It's time to put their money where their mouth is," he said.
In July, Ms Rowe, who was born without arms and legs after her mother took thalidomide, reached a multimillion-dollar settlement with the drug's British distributor. Grunenthal refused to settle.
The lawsuit was part of a class action and more than 100 other survivors expect to have their claims heard in the next year. Thalidomide is still sold today, but as a treatment for multiple myeloma, a bone marrow cancer and leprosy. It is also being studied to see if it might be useful for other conditions including AIDS, arthritis and other cancers.
with AP
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