50 years too late... thalidomide drug maker issues an 'apology' to victims

Tuesday, September 04, 2012 by: Craig Stellpflug
Tags: thalidomide, victims, apology

(NaturalNews) Remember thalidomide, developed for morning sickness and prescribed to pregnant women in the 1950s and 1960s? The aftermath of this Big Pharma fiasco left around 10,000 reported babies born with malformed limbs and missing arms or legs. Victims of thalidomide defects said that a recent apology from the German inventor of the drug is too little, too late. After repeatedly reminding this errant company of its criminal behavior at the negotiating table, British thalidomide victim Geoff Adams-Spink is not satisfied with this apology.

But Adams Spink, head of the European Dysmelia Reference Information Centre, says: "This is an important first step. The next is to compensate everyone damaged by their so-called 'totally harmless' drug." At a ceremony in the western German city of Stolberg, where the company is based, Chief executive, Harald Stock said: "In the name of Gruenenthal ... I want to take this opportunity to express our deep regret over the consequences of Contergan and our deep sympathy for the victims, their mothers and families."

50 years of "silent shock"??

The victims are blamed for the companies silence! While thousands of surviving victims of thalidomide struggle on, the company excused its deafening silence by placating the victims with these words: "We also ask for forgiveness for not reaching out to you from human to human for almost 50 years ... We ask that you see our long speechlessness as a sign of the silent shock that your fate has caused us."

To add insult to injury, the Gruenenthal apology was made with a public unveiling of a statue which portrays a child with shortened arms. "The fact that Gruenenthal, a billion-euro company, is paying 5,000 euros (for the statue) is a slap in the face of every victim," said the federal association of Contergan victims.

No time for "silent shock" for parents

Lynette Rowe, now 50, was born without arms or legs after her mother took thalidomide for a month while pregnant. Lynette won a recent settlement in July against thalidomide's Australian distributor. Lynette's mother, Wendy Rowe, said the apology was an insult. "It's the sort of apology you give when you're not really sorry." Referring to Stock's statement of 'silent shock', Wendy Rowe said: "Our family couldn't have gone into silent shock. We had to get up and face each day and every day and cope with the incredible damage that Gruenenthal drug did to Lyn and our family." The Rowe family's legal firm, Slater & Gordon, called the drug manufacturer's apology "pathetic". "It is too little, too late and riddled with further deceit."

Back in the US, complaints have been filed against GlaxoSmithKline, Sanofi-Aventis, Avantor Performance Materials and Gruenenthal, with plaintiffs claiming birth defects resulted from their mothers' use of thalidomide.

Bad drug that is still in use

Although not prescribed for morning sickness anymore, today thalidomide is still widely used as a drug in spite of hard lessons learned. It is even being experimented with for treatment of Multiple Myeloma and Irritable Bowel Syndrome. The main side effects of thalidomide include birth defects, peripheral neuropathy, insomnia, deep vein thrombosis, fatigue, constipation and on and on and on... Thalidomide treatments even come with guidelines for "managing side effects".

NEWSFLASH: There are no such things as "side effects"

There are no such things as "side effects", they are ALL EFFECTS. Some effects of any drug are desirable and some effects are not. The key for Big Pharma is to downplay the negative effects and make billions of dollars on marketing the desirable effects. Billions more, that is, than the resulting lawsuit payouts that plague every drug. As with thalidomide, the "side effects" of most drugs are a veritable laundry list of horrors from a sci-fi terror flick while the "side effects" of a wholesome diet, exercise and targeted nutritional supplements are health and vitality.

Which one do you desire? Health and vitality or managing "side effects"... You choose.

Sources for this article

http://abclocal.go.com/wtvd/story?section=news/health&id=8796047
http://www.drugs.com/sfx/thalidomide-side-effects.html
http://www.news-medical.net/health/Thalidomide-Side-Effects.aspx

About the author:
Craig Stellpflug is a Cancer Nutrition Specialist, Lifestyle Coach and Neuro Development Consultant at Healing Pathways Medical Clinic, Scottsdale, AZ. http://www.healingpathwayscancerclinic.com/ With 17 years of clinical experience working with both brain disorders and cancer, Craig has seen first-hand the devastating effects of vaccines and pharmaceuticals on the human body and has come to the conclusion that a natural lifestyle and natural remedies are the true answers to health and vibrant living. You can find his daily health blog at www.blog.realhealthtalk.com and his articles and radio show archives at www.realhealthtalk.com