Thalidomide victim sues Germany

Jul 22, 2010, 14:11 GMT

Bonn - A victim of the thalidomide drug has filed what could be the first compensation claim against the German state, a Bonn court confirmed on Thursday.

The sedative was administered to pregnant women around the world in the late 1950s to reduce nausea and vomiting, but caused deformities especially to the arms and legs of their babies.

'At the time, the state neglected to control the production and distribution of medication,' claimant Otmar Korte told the German Press Agency dpa.

Korte, who is himself a lawyer, thinks this is the first time the German state has been sued over the use of thalidomide.

He has argued that Germany should have drawn up pharmaceutical laws as early as 1957, when the precursor to the European Union was founded with the Treaty of Rome.

It was not until 1976 that such a law was introduced, forcing manufacturers to prove their medication was effective and caused no harm.

Korte believes that effective supervision of the pharmaceutical industry could have spotted the link between embryo damage and thalidomide, sold in Germany as Contergan, as early as 1958.

The drug should have been removed from the market by 1960, the lawyer said, as the deformities were becoming obvious by then.

German drugs company Gruenenthal sold the sedative from 1957 until 1961, the year Korte was born.

Gruenenthal cannot be sued for compensation, after striking a deal under which it set up a thalidomide fund for disabled children in return for a law that negated any claims directed at the company.

Thalidomide became synonymous with one of the largest ever pharmaceuticals scandals. The number of victims is estimated at more than 10,000 worldwide. Around 5,000 children were affected in Germany alone.