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Monday February 13, 2012

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Massive win for thalidomide sufferers

Posted by: 3AW Radio & Andrew Rule, The Age | 29 July, 2010 - 7:39 AM
Thalidomide

PLAYING NOW: Age journalist Andrew Rule speaks with Ross and John about the extraordinary decision $50million to victims of thalidomide.

AUDIO: Listen to Ken Youdale, the man that negociated the deal

Andrew Rule, The Age: An 86-year-old war hero and one of Australia's leading plaintiff lawyers have negotiated a $50 million windfall payment for 45 Australian and New Zealand victims of the drug thalidomide, which caused birth defects in thousands of children around the world in the early 1960s.

The deal was signed off in Sydney yesterday when several "thalidomiders" and their advisers met three senior representatives of the giant Diageo group — the multinational company that took over the UK firm that sold the drug in the early 1960s.

The company agreed to offer the payment after a series of negotiations starting two years ago when former wartime airman Ken Youdale DFC went to London determined to broker a deal for aging "thalidomiders".

Mr Youdale and his wife Janet had been involved with the Australian Thalidomide Foundation for 24 years after helping set it up in 1974 to handle the modest compensation then offered by the British company Distillers, which had marketed thalidomide-based drugs in several countries, including Australia. Diageo later took over Distillers.

After meeting Diageo executives, Mr Youdale by chance met Melbourne class-action specialist Peter Gordon — former principal of Slater & Gordon — and asked him to work on the deal without payment.

The pair persuaded Diageo's advisers to volunteer the huge payment as a goodwill gesture, despite the fact that the 1970s settlements had ended the company's legal obligations.

It had become clear that the aging thalidomiders — now all approaching 50 — would need far more care as their over-taxed bodies wore out due to often overwhelming physical defects caused by the drug. Many have missing or malformed limbs as well as serious internal problems.

Mr Gordon is well-known for his pursuit of giant corporations over often fatal health problems caused by asbestos, silicone breast implants, tobacco and, most recently, the arthritis drug Vioxx, which causes heart attacks.

He has praised Diageo for "doing the right thing" on moral grounds when it was open to the company to use the courts to delay payment until it would be too late to help many of the increasingly-vulnerable thalidomiders.

For Mr Youdale, engineering the coup is the latest chapter in an extraordinary life, which saw him awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross after surviving 38 air missions over occupied Europe in World War 2, and as a writer of musical comedies, lawyer and successful businessman.

He dedicated himself to helping thalidomide victims after the birth in 1962 of his first daughter Niki, who was affected by the drug. Niki Youdale died in 2003 but Mr Youdale continued his efforts to help other sufferers.

His full story will be published in this week's Good Weekend.

Blog comments Your Say

  • about time!! I have a brave big sis who has suffered all her life from this, I have known her since we were little girls and I have never seen a person suffer so much! I know that money wont stop her suffering, but it sure will help her. She had been having operations all her life and travelling many miles back and forth to the hospital that did all her ops and battling all her life financially to do it. The "massive" win for suffers that the press states actually could never be big enough to match the horrific damage.

    Sherrin Caird Saturday 25 June, 2011 - 8:44 AM

  • Thanks to Peter and Ken we now have somewhere to go to get help to find out if we are thalitomide or not.I was also born with fasd and i am now going for tests to see if my disabilities are caused from thalitomide as my mother cant remember what she took whist pregnant.All my other siblings are ok no problems.I am the only one in my family born in 62 with deformities that resemble thalitomide, at least now i can be tested to find out for sure. I agree that harsh warnings should be put on alcohol about drinking whist pregnant lets give our kids of the future a chance.

    raearne johansen Tuesday 31 May, 2011 - 1:05 PM

  • 162 loftus st temora 2666 nsw australia, dop 26.10.59 I was born with hair lip and cleft pallet and hole in roof of mouth not all has been fixed up I now have to ware a full denture plate to stop the movement of my upper mouth ,and the doctor at the time told me not to have my tonsels out .If i leave out the denture for any long time my top pallet moves and will cause discomfort when putting it back in so I must ware iT 24/7

    geoff macauley Thursday 2 September, 2010 - 10:31 AM

  • If you think you are a New Zealand or Australian â??thalidomiderâ??, please contact the Secretary of Thalidomide Australia Inc by email.

    thalidomide@people.net.au

    Include your name, contact details (phone/address), date of birth and a brief outline of thalidomide symptoms.

    Alternatively write to

    The Secretary,
    Thalidomide Australia Inc
    PO Box 4167
    Forster NSW 2428 Australia

    and someone will be in touch.

    Lesley Fletcher Tuesday 10 August, 2010 - 8:13 AM

  • I am a thalidomide victim in NZ . I have received not a cent in compensation. I would like to know what constitues as a victim.... how severe does the diability have to be...... to be counted. I can not get corrective surgery as according to the health guidelines I don't count.I would like to know how this compensation was assessed ? There are more than 10 victims in NZ.

    Aynsley Tuesday 3 August, 2010 - 3:46 PM

  • The agreement negotiated with Diageo on behalf of the victims of thalidomide is a stunning victory for those whose lives with predetermined by exposure to a significant teratogen. Having said that, how do we now get appropriate stewardship for the greatest teratogen of all, alcohol? I read somewhere that Diageo UK was leaning towards having labels placed on alcohol bottles warning women not to drink furing pregnancy. Why is there nt concern for the rights of the child to be born with the greatest possible access to equal life chances?
    Thalidomide was only teratogenic from day 21 to day 34 after conception. Alcoho is teratogenic from before birth, across the 9 months of preganancy and postnatally if mother breastfeeds. Fetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASD) can have effect so subtle it is not noticed until the child reaches puberty. Australia is at least 36 years ebhind North America in recognising a good base of evidence on FASD yet Australian doctors largely discount it. I would relish an opportunity to talk about FASD with you or anyone else who genuinely wants to prevent th most problematic disability we have.

    Janet Hammill Sunday 1 August, 2010 - 1:44 PM

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