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Prescribed in the late 1950s for morning sickness and as a sedative, the drug was banned in 1962 after causing birth defects. (Reuters)
Lawyers have launched a new class action on behalf of Australian victims of thalidomide.
The drug caused deaths and birth defects after it was prescribed for pregnant woman in the 1950s and 1960s.
There have been a number of settlements in cases against the German drug manufacturer Grunenthal.
The lawsuit lodged in the Victorian Supreme Court will be led by a Victorian woman on behalf of uncompensated victims from Australia and those not a party to a separate class action that begun last October.
Lynette Rowe, 49, was born with no arms and legs after her mother took the morning sickness drug while she was pregnant in 1961.
The class action follows last year's successful settlement with the British group Diageo for 45 Australian and New Zealand thalidomide victims.
Peter Gordon from Gordon Legal, who was involved in that case, said he realised then there were still many victims in Australia who have not received any compensation.
"I came to realise that there were a significant number of people affected by thalidomide who have never been compensated, or even had the psychological satisfaction of an explanation for the physical abnormalities they have lived with for 50 years," he said.
- ABC/AAP
Source: http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2011/06/25/3253434.htm
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