Video link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kzHGQdyvhOk
{O/C} A German drug company has apologised to mothers who took a particular morning sickness drug in the 1950s and 1960s.
The drug caused thousands of birth defects worldwide and victims say an apology half a century later is an insult.
Sonya Artero reports.
{SOT}
Reputable pharmaceutical companies routinely conduct tests to ensure their drugs do not adversely affect those taking them.
But such was not the case for Thalidomide, developed by the German firm Gruenenthal. Also known as Contergan in Germany and Distaval in other countries, the drug was marketed internationally to pregnant women in the late 1950s and early 1960s as a treatment for morning sickness.
But the end result led to 10,000 babies around the world being born with birth defects of malformed limbs or missing arms or legs.
In Stolberg, Germany, the head of Gruenenthal used the unveiling of a statue with shortened arms to commemorate the victims and offer an apology. He asked victims there to view the drug company's 50-year speechlessness as a sign of their silent shock over the terrible fate their drug had caused.
In reaction, the Federal Association of Contergan said knowing that Gruenenthal, a billion-euro company, paid 5,000 euros for the statue was a slap in the face of every victim.
A spokesman representing Thalidomide victims in England agrees, saying when an apology still fails to tell the truth, it amounts to a lie.
{Soundbite} NICK DOBRIK, Spokesperson for the Thalidomide Trust: An apology should be something which admits wrongdoing. This doesn't and therefore Thalidomiders are very upset about it.
Nick Dobrik is also adamant the government is equally to blame.
Victims say the only thing Thalidomide proved was that Gruenenthal sacrificed lives for profit as estimates show for every one survivor, 10 babies died.
Gruenenthal maintains it's made amends by paying 629 million U.S. dollars to victims.
Sonya Artero, TVB news.
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