Thalidomide survivors to receive national apology over delays in withdrawing the morning sickness drug
It's been estimated 20% fewer Australians would have been harmed had the government acted when its dangers first emerged.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese will deliver a formal apology on behalf of the government to survivors of the drug thalidomide and their families.
It is estimated there are 146 thalidomide survivors in Australia, although the exact number affected by the morning sickness drug that caused birth defects is unknown.
The apology which will be made on 29 November before the House of Representatives was one of the recommendations from a Senate report four years ago.
Despite clear evidence linking thalidomide to birth defects in November 1961 — when the was drug was withdrawn by its manufacturer Grünenthal GmbH — the government failed to recall or destroy the product that was already in doctors’ clinics and pharmacies until August 1962.
