Category: News Archive

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[/vc_column][vc_column column_padding=”no-extra-padding” column_padding_position=”all” background_color_opacity=”1″ background_hover_color_opacity=”1″ column_link_target=”_self” column_shadow=”none” column_border_radius=”none” width=”3/4″ tablet_width_inherit=”default” tablet_text_alignment=”default” phone_text_alignment=”default” overlay_strength=”0.3″ column_border_width=”none” column_border_style=”solid” bg_image_animation=”none”][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row type=”in_container” full_screen_row_position=”middle” column_margin=”default” scene_position=”center” text_color=”dark” text_align=”left” overlay_strength=”0.3″ shape_divider_position=”bottom” bg_image_animation=”none”][vc_column column_padding=”no-extra-padding” column_padding_position=”all” background_color_opacity=”1″ background_hover_color_opacity=”1″ column_link_target=”_self” column_shadow=”none” column_border_radius=”none” width=”1/1″ tablet_width_inherit=”default” tablet_text_alignment=”default” phone_text_alignment=”default” overlay_strength=”0.3″ column_border_width=”none” column_border_style=”solid” bg_image_animation=”none”][vc_column_text]Primodos scandal: Government accused of ‘bullying’ disabled campaigners in the courts

Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham has accused the government of “using its might” to “bully” and “silence” disabled campaigners in the courts.

People allegedly damaged by the drug Primodos are in a high court battle with both the UK government and the German pharmaceutical company Bayer.

Campaigners say that both the company and the UK regulators were aware of the potential risk of the pregnancy test drug to deform babies in the womb.

Mr Burnham is calling on the government to drop the case and “compensate them for the damage they have suffered”.

The drug was heavily prescribed in the North-West, and Mr Burnham has offered his support to the campaigners.

He told Sky News: “It’s barely believable that the government are, I would say, bullying the victims of a terrible medical negligence case in the court. How can that be right?[/vc_column_text][vc_row_inner column_margin=”default” text_align=”left”][vc_column_inner column_padding=”no-extra-padding” column_padding_position=”all” background_color_opacity=”1″ background_hover_color_opacity=”1″ column_shadow=”none” column_border_radius=”none” column_link_target=”_self” width=”1/4″ tablet_width_inherit=”default” overlay_strength=”0.3″ column_border_width=”none” column_border_style=”solid” bg_image_animation=”none”][/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner column_padding=”no-extra-padding” column_padding_position=”all” background_color_opacity=”1″ background_hover_color_opacity=”1″ column_shadow=”none” column_border_radius=”none” column_link_target=”_self” width=”1/2″ tablet_width_inherit=”default” overlay_strength=”0.3″ column_border_width=”none” column_border_style=”solid” bg_image_animation=”none”][nectar_video_lightbox link_style=”play_button_2″ nectar_play_button_color=”Default-Accent-Color” image_url=”987″ hover_effect=”defaut” box_shadow=”none” border_radius=”none” play_button_size=”default” video_url=”https://youtu.be/C7jbd1-4bRU”][/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner column_padding=”no-extra-padding” column_padding_position=”all” background_color_opacity=”1″ background_hover_color_opacity=”1″ column_shadow=”none” column_border_radius=”none” column_link_target=”_self” width=”1/4″ tablet_width_inherit=”default” overlay_strength=”0.3″ column_border_width=”none” column_border_style=”solid” bg_image_animation=”none”][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row type=”in_container” full_screen_row_position=”middle” column_margin=”default” scene_position=”center” text_color=”dark” text_align=”left” overlay_strength=”0.3″ shape_divider_position=”bottom” bg_image_animation=”none”][vc_column column_padding=”no-extra-padding” column_padding_position=”all” background_color_opacity=”1″ background_hover_color_opacity=”1″ column_link_target=”_self” column_shadow=”none” column_border_radius=”none” width=”1/1″ tablet_width_inherit=”default” tablet_text_alignment=”default” phone_text_alignment=”default” overlay_strength=”0.3″ column_border_width=”none” column_border_style=”solid” bg_image_animation=”none”][vc_column_text]

“The government and the pharmaceutical company are using their combined might to silence the victims. It is utterly wrong. And it renders the apology given by the former health secretary in 2020 utterly meaningless.”

Mr Burnham, who is a former health secretary, added: “I want to make a direct plea to the current health secretary, someone I have a good deal of regard for: please listen to these victims.

“The government should not be in court bullying people who have been damaged in this way – you should be supporting them.

“So Sajid Javid, please drop this legal action, apologise again, and compensate them for the damage they have suffered.”

‘It’s disgusting’

Read the Sky News article here.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]

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[/vc_column][vc_column column_padding=”no-extra-padding” column_padding_position=”all” background_color_opacity=”1″ background_hover_color_opacity=”1″ column_link_target=”_self” column_shadow=”none” column_border_radius=”none” width=”3/4″ tablet_width_inherit=”default” tablet_text_alignment=”default” phone_text_alignment=”default” overlay_strength=”0.3″ column_border_width=”none” column_border_style=”solid” bg_image_animation=”none”][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row type=”in_container” full_screen_row_position=”middle” column_margin=”default” scene_position=”center” text_color=”dark” text_align=”left” overlay_strength=”0.3″ shape_divider_position=”bottom” bg_image_animation=”none”][vc_column column_padding=”no-extra-padding” column_padding_position=”all” background_color_opacity=”1″ background_hover_color_opacity=”1″ column_link_target=”_self” column_shadow=”none” column_border_radius=”none” width=”1/1″ tablet_width_inherit=”default” tablet_text_alignment=”default” phone_text_alignment=”default” overlay_strength=”0.3″ column_border_width=”none” column_border_style=”solid” bg_image_animation=”none”][vc_column_text]Primodos: Zebrafish, GLP, and Unanswered Questions

Primodos, a hormone-based pregnancy test, was given to women between 1959 and 1978. Its development occurred before GLP and before standardized testing for teratogenesis (causing birth defects).  There are data and suspicions that it caused birth defects, but more questions remain.

This episode of Inside Out Quality explores the story of this in vivo diagnostic with Dr. Neil Vargesson, from the University of Aberdeen, Scotland, UK. Learn another reason for the importance of Good Laboratory Practices and why pre-clinical studies are key to keeping people safe.

Listen to the Podcast[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]

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[/vc_column][vc_column column_padding=”no-extra-padding” column_padding_position=”all” background_color_opacity=”1″ background_hover_color_opacity=”1″ column_link_target=”_self” column_shadow=”none” column_border_radius=”none” width=”3/4″ tablet_width_inherit=”default” tablet_text_alignment=”default” phone_text_alignment=”default” overlay_strength=”0.3″ column_border_width=”none” column_border_style=”solid” bg_image_animation=”none”][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row type=”in_container” full_screen_row_position=”middle” column_margin=”default” scene_position=”center” text_color=”dark” text_align=”left” overlay_strength=”0.3″ shape_divider_position=”bottom” bg_image_animation=”none”][vc_column column_padding=”no-extra-padding” column_padding_position=”all” background_color_opacity=”1″ background_hover_color_opacity=”1″ column_link_target=”_self” column_shadow=”none” column_border_radius=”none” width=”1/1″ tablet_width_inherit=”default” tablet_text_alignment=”default” phone_text_alignment=”default” overlay_strength=”0.3″ column_border_width=”none” column_border_style=”solid” bg_image_animation=”none”][vc_column_text]EXPLORATHON PODCASTS FROM THE UNIVERSITY OF ABERDEEN

A number of drugs over the last 70 years have been withdrawn following the discovery of serious side-effects. Most of us will be familiar with the Thalidomide scandal, and how thousands of people continue to be affected by the birth defects caused by the drug. The effect of these scandals has been lasting and has caused many people to distrust drug development and reporting. 

Professor Neil Vargesson will explore how Thalidomide was found to have caused serious side effects and how research has found that these drugs can effectively treat other diseases and conditions. He will also discuss his work investigating another drug used in early stages of pregnancy; Primodos and his efforts communicating his research with the public, government and other groups. 

Listen [/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]

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[/vc_column][vc_column column_padding=”no-extra-padding” column_padding_position=”all” background_color_opacity=”1″ background_hover_color_opacity=”1″ column_link_target=”_self” column_shadow=”none” column_border_radius=”none” width=”3/4″ tablet_width_inherit=”default” tablet_text_alignment=”default” phone_text_alignment=”default” overlay_strength=”0.3″ column_border_width=”none” column_border_style=”solid” bg_image_animation=”none”][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row type=”in_container” full_screen_row_position=”middle” column_margin=”default” scene_position=”center” text_color=”dark” text_align=”left” overlay_strength=”0.3″ shape_divider_position=”bottom” bg_image_animation=”none”][vc_column column_padding=”no-extra-padding” column_padding_position=”all” background_color_opacity=”1″ background_hover_color_opacity=”1″ column_link_target=”_self” column_shadow=”none” column_border_radius=”none” width=”1/1″ tablet_width_inherit=”default” tablet_text_alignment=”default” phone_text_alignment=”default” overlay_strength=”0.3″ column_border_width=”none” column_border_style=”solid” bg_image_animation=”none”][vc_column_text]SKY NEWS: Pressure is mounting on the government to help victims of Primodos, the epilepsy drug sodium valproate and vaginal mesh.

An Independent Patients’ Commissioner is set to be appointed to act as champion for people who have been harmed by medicines or medical devices.

Baroness Cumberlege, who recommended the new role in a landmark report earlier this year, announced that the government had budged on the issue after initial resistance.

She welcomed the move saying: “Had there been a patient safety commissioner before now, much of the suffering we have witnessed could have been avoided.

But she added “the risk still remains” and further urgent action is needed to protect patients from potentially harmful drugs.

At an online meeting of parliamentarians, the baroness described the testimony of a victim of the medical device vaginal mesh, which has left some patients in chronic pain.

The woman had told her review team: “This device took everything from me. My health, my life, my job, my dignity, my marriage, my freedom.”

Reflecting on this the baroness added: “The scale of suffering we witnessed means nothing short of profound change is necessary. Not necessary in a couple or three years, but necessary now.”

Creating a Patients Commissioner would be the second of nine recommendations that the government has acted on from the hard-hitting First Do No Harm report published by the Independent Medicines and Medical Devices Safety (IMMDS) Review in July, which was chaired by Baroness Cumberlege.

The government’s first act was to apologise for the damage done to patients over many years by products that could have been better regulated.

The baroness is also turning pressure on the government to offer redress to victims of the hormone pregnancy test drug Primodos, the epilepsy drug sodium valproate and vaginal mesh. Campaigners say these products have had life-changing effects.

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[/vc_column][vc_column column_padding=”no-extra-padding” column_padding_position=”all” background_color_opacity=”1″ background_hover_color_opacity=”1″ column_link_target=”_self” column_shadow=”none” column_border_radius=”none” width=”3/4″ tablet_width_inherit=”default” tablet_text_alignment=”default” phone_text_alignment=”default” overlay_strength=”0.3″ column_border_width=”none” column_border_style=”solid” bg_image_animation=”none”][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row type=”in_container” full_screen_row_position=”middle” column_margin=”default” scene_position=”center” text_color=”dark” text_align=”left” overlay_strength=”0.3″ shape_divider_position=”bottom” bg_image_animation=”none”][vc_column column_padding=”no-extra-padding” column_padding_position=”all” background_color_opacity=”1″ background_hover_color_opacity=”1″ column_link_target=”_self” column_shadow=”none” column_border_radius=”none” width=”1/1″ tablet_width_inherit=”default” tablet_text_alignment=”default” phone_text_alignment=”default” overlay_strength=”0.3″ column_border_width=”none” column_border_style=”solid” bg_image_animation=”none”][vc_column_text]MAIL ON SUNDAY: I prayed, ‘Just let my baby see her first birthday’.

By LORRAINE FISHER

PUBLISHED: 00:03, 13 December 2020

Jo Moreno’s baby girl did turn one, but died days after this photo was taken. She was just one of hundreds of victims of an appalling medical scandal. Fifty years on, Lorraine Fisher meets the families still fighting against a tide of shocking cover-ups and injustice

Sitting in an armchair, tenderly cradling her sickly 11-month-old daughter in her arms, Jo Moreno made a deal with God. ‘Lord,’ she prayed, ‘if you let me have her for her first birthday, you can take her.’

Jo got her wish: a few days later her beautiful little girl Nicola was blowing out a solitary candle on her cake, surrounded by her doting family. But within weeks Nicola was in hospital again, never to come home. The health problems she’d been born with had overwhelmed her young body and she stood no chance of survival.

It ripped a hole in her mother’s heart, but even worse was to come. Because years later Jo discovered the cause of all her daughter’s suffering wasn’t the sheer bad luck doctors had suggested. Instead it could have been due to two tiny white pills she had been given by her GP as a pregnancy test.

Called Primodos, the pills were taken by around 1.5 million British women from their introduction in the 1950s until shortly before they were taken off the market in 1978. Unknown to Jo, even by the time she took them in 1970, concern had already been raised about a possible link between the tablets and birth defects in the UK. Babies whose mothers had taken those pills were being born with life-changing and devastating facial deformities, heart defects, brain damage and limbs missing. Many were stillborn. Yet doctors continued to dish them out.

In perhaps the greatest medical scandal since thalidomide (the tragedy in the late 50s in which anti-sickness pills given to expectant mothers caused severe birth defects and thousands of neonatal deaths), increasing evidence was ignored and research was destroyed as part of a massive cover-up. It’s left a legacy of heartache and pain for the now grown-up children who are living with crippling disabilities and the mothers like Jo who lost their babies.

She’d had an easy pregnancy and birth and was given no cause to be alarmed even after Nicola was born on 4 October 1970: she was perfect. But within days the vomiting began.

‘The health visitor told me all babies were sick,’ says Jo, now 71. ‘But when I burped her she

began projectile vomiting. After three or four weeks I saw my GP and we were rushed to hospital by ambulance.’

With no scans available in 1970, doctors cut Nicola open from chest to stomach to find out what was wrong. ‘They said, “She needs a new liver but that’s not an option. You’ll be lucky to have her for three months – her bile duct didn’t form”,’ remembers Jo, whose husband was alongside her. ‘We felt disbelief – we didn’t quite grasp it.’

At home, Nicola was a happy baby but suffered constant periods of sickness. Her stomach would swell so much she was regularly taken into hospital to have litres of fluid drained from her abdomen. By the autumn of 1971, it was happening so frequently that Jo made her deal with God. ‘I knew if I didn’t have her for her first birthday, I’d never have coped at all.’

A few days later, Nicola was admitted to hospital for the last time. ‘They prised her out of my arms and sent me home. As I walked out, I could hear her screaming, “Mummy! Mummy! Mummy!” That was her first word and her last.

‘She lapsed into semi-consciousness the next day and died the day after, without us by her side. It haunted me for years, wondering if my daughter died thinking I’d deserted her.’ For Jo, there followed decades of guilt. ‘I felt I’d failed as a mother because I couldn’t protect her. My husband also blamed me. He said there must be something wrong with me and we split up two years later.

‘I felt like someone had ripped out my heart and left a big black hole. And I felt so worthless.’ A postmortem examination showed Nicola had died of liver failure and failure of her bile duct, but doctors assured Jo they’d been caused by simple bad luck, nothing else.

Then, in 1978, she saw a newspaper article calling Primodos ‘the new thalidomide’. Unknown to Jo, who lives in Devon, the Primodos tablets she took contained the same hormones as oral contraceptives but at 40 times the dose. At the time they were seen as a quicker and cheaper alternative to the traditional pregnancy test, which took days to await the results. With a hormone test like Primodos you took one pill one day, the second the next. If you bled you weren’t pregnant, if you didn’t you were.

 

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[/vc_column][vc_column column_padding=”no-extra-padding” column_padding_position=”all” background_color_opacity=”1″ background_hover_color_opacity=”1″ column_link_target=”_self” column_shadow=”none” column_border_radius=”none” width=”3/4″ tablet_width_inherit=”default” tablet_text_alignment=”default” phone_text_alignment=”default” overlay_strength=”0.3″ column_border_width=”none” column_border_style=”solid” bg_image_animation=”none”][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row type=”in_container” full_screen_row_position=”middle” column_margin=”default” scene_position=”center” text_color=”dark” text_align=”left” overlay_strength=”0.3″ shape_divider_position=”bottom” bg_image_animation=”none”][vc_column column_padding=”no-extra-padding” column_padding_position=”all” background_color_opacity=”1″ background_hover_color_opacity=”1″ column_link_target=”_self” column_shadow=”none” column_border_radius=”none” width=”1/1″ tablet_width_inherit=”default” tablet_text_alignment=”default” phone_text_alignment=”default” overlay_strength=”0.3″ column_border_width=”none” column_border_style=”solid” bg_image_animation=”none”][vc_column_text]HERC: In this article, Sharon Hartles critically examines the journey so far towards the implementation of the remaining eight recommendations set out in the landmark publication of the Medicines and Medical Devices Safety Review First Do No Harm report in July 2020. Furthermore, she explores the wider impacts this publication has set into motion. Sharon Hartles was awarded an MA in Crime and Justice (with distinction) from The Open University in December 2019 and is a member of HERC.

Wednesday 8th July 2020, marked the publication of the final report by the Independent Medicines and Medical Devices Safety Review, which was commissioned to examine the harmful effects of three treatments: Primodos, an oral hormone pregnancy test that caused birth defects; sodium valproate, an epilepsy drug that also causes birth defects, and surgical mesh, a treatment for incontinence that causes chronic debilitating pain. Primodos was the most widely prescribed ‘hormone pregnancy test’ in the UK (and around the world) in the 1960s and 1970s until it was taken off the market in 1978. First Do No Harm found that avoidable harm was caused because the UK Government and the Healthcare system failed in their duty to protect patients and regulate Primodos.

For the Primodos-affected members of the Association for Children Damaged by Hormone Pregnancy Tests, a lobby group, the findings and recommendations offered recognition ‘that hundreds of families have been wronged.’ Recommendation 1 of First Do No Harm was fulfilled when Matt Hancock apologised for the avoidable harm caused to those who suffered. However, after this welcomed and prompt first step towards justice, the next steps – the implementation of the remaining eight recommendations – have been fraught with resistance.

 

Baroness Julia Cumberlege, a life peer who chaired the Independent Medicines and Medical Devices Safety Review, explicitly championed the need for the recommendations set out in First Do No Harm to be implemented with determination and urgency. Despite this, it has now been more than three months since the report was published, which may not seem like much time within the political agenda, and given the preoccupations with Covid and Brexit, but England is lagging behind Scotland. At a 9th July 2020, press conference, Julia Cumberlege raised concerns about the importance of implementing the report’s recommendations and the significance of not leaving it to “sit on a shelf and gather dust”.

 

Read More of this article 

Read related article[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]

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[/vc_column][vc_column column_padding=”no-extra-padding” column_padding_position=”all” background_color_opacity=”1″ background_hover_color_opacity=”1″ column_link_target=”_self” column_shadow=”none” column_border_radius=”none” width=”3/4″ tablet_width_inherit=”default” tablet_text_alignment=”default” phone_text_alignment=”default” overlay_strength=”0.3″ column_border_width=”none” column_border_style=”solid” bg_image_animation=”none”][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row type=”in_container” full_screen_row_position=”middle” column_margin=”default” scene_position=”center” text_color=”dark” text_align=”left” overlay_strength=”0.3″ shape_divider_position=”bottom” bg_image_animation=”none”][vc_column column_padding=”no-extra-padding” column_padding_position=”all” background_color_opacity=”1″ background_hover_color_opacity=”1″ column_link_target=”_self” column_shadow=”none” column_border_radius=”none” width=”1/1″ tablet_width_inherit=”default” tablet_text_alignment=”default” phone_text_alignment=”default” overlay_strength=”0.3″ column_border_width=”none” column_border_style=”solid” bg_image_animation=”none”][vc_column_text]SKY NEWS: Primodos scandal: Theresa May says victims were patted on the head and told ‘you’re imagining it’

The former PM tells Sky News that Primodos campaigners “deserve to be treated fairly” and “weren’t listened to”.

The government should consider “redress” for the victims of pregnancy test drug Primodos, Theresa May has told Sky News.

In an exclusive interview, the former prime minister heavily criticised the health regulation system that also allowed people to suffer with another drug, sodium valproate, and the medical product, vaginal mesh.

Primodos – packed with hormones – was given to women in the 1960s and 1970s.

Many parents believe it damaged the foetus in the womb, leaving children with life-changing malformations.

There has been a 40-year campaign for recognition of its potential dangers. Mrs May praised campaigners, who had been “beating their head against a brick wall of the state”, she said.

She also criticised former governments and healthcare professionals who she said had tried to “stop them in their tracks… saying that ‘you didn’t really suffer’ despite the fact that there was obvious evidence”.

In an interview for Sky News documentary Bitter Pill, she said: “I think it’s important that the government looks at the whole question of redress and about how that redress can be brought up for people. They’ve had an apology and that’s important, but obviously, lives have suffered as a result.”

It comes after an independent review, instigated by the former PM two years ago, found last month that government health regulators had failed patients.

Epilepsy drug sodium valproate can cause damage to unborn babies, while vaginal mesh surgery has left some women with debilitating and chronic pain.

In a Sky News documentary which investigates Primodos, Mrs May explained why in 2018 she ordered a second review into the drug.

She said: “I almost felt it was sort of women being patted on head and being told ‘there there dear’, don’t worry. You’re imagining it. You don’t know. We know better than you do.”

She cited her concerns after reading the conclusions of a previous scientific review overseen by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency in 2017, which claimed evidence did not support a causal association between Primodos and congenital malformations.

Mrs May said: “Certainly, when I looked at the report, I felt that it wasn’t the slam dunk answer that people said it was.”

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SKY NEWS: UK campaign prompts German government to investigate pregnancy test drug.

The German Federal Ministry of Health has announced it will launch a review into the pregnancy test drug Primodos, which is alleged to have deformed babies.

Primodos, manufactured in Germany, was given to women by GPs in the 1960s and 1970s. Many parents believe the hormone-packed pill damaged the foetus in the womb, leaving children with life-changing malformations.

It’s estimated 1.5 million women in the UK used the drug and the same formulation was also widely used in Germany under the brand name Duogynon.

That hasn’t happened yet, but pressure from Germany could be key.

The German review is expected to focus on whether connections between the then German regulator, the BGA, and the manufacturer Schering AG (today Bayer AG), led to the drug remaining on the market despite concerns about its safety.

Marie Lyon, chair of the Association for Children Damaged by Hormone Pregnancy Tests and a leading Primodos campaigner, told Sky News: “This is a huge step forward for the German campaign group and one we thought we would never see happen.

“The group had struggled to gain sufficient support from MPs, due to the different political climate in Germany. I have worked with the German campaign group since 2012 and with their MPs since 2016.

“Until now the German government have refused to acknowledge any evidence of harm, or initiate an independent inquiry. The MPs deserve recognition for their persistence and I send them huge congratulations on their well-deserved success.”

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:: Listen to the podcast: Primodos, mesh and valproate scandals – what next for survivors? on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, Spreaker

 

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[/vc_column][vc_column column_padding=”no-extra-padding” column_padding_position=”all” background_color_opacity=”1″ background_hover_color_opacity=”1″ column_link_target=”_self” column_shadow=”none” column_border_radius=”none” width=”3/4″ tablet_width_inherit=”default” tablet_text_alignment=”default” phone_text_alignment=”default” overlay_strength=”0.3″ column_border_width=”none” column_border_style=”solid” bg_image_animation=”none”][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row type=”in_container” full_screen_row_position=”middle” column_margin=”default” scene_position=”center” text_color=”dark” text_align=”left” overlay_strength=”0.3″ shape_divider_position=”bottom” bg_image_animation=”none”][vc_column column_padding=”no-extra-padding” column_padding_position=”all” background_color_opacity=”1″ background_hover_color_opacity=”1″ column_link_target=”_self” column_shadow=”none” column_border_radius=”none” width=”1/1″ tablet_width_inherit=”default” tablet_text_alignment=”default” phone_text_alignment=”default” overlay_strength=”0.3″ column_border_width=”none” column_border_style=”solid” bg_image_animation=”none”][vc_column_text]THE INDEPENDENT: Primodos scandal – Government should consider ‘redress’ for victims of pregnancy test drug, says Theresa Maythe Government to consider “redress” for the victims of a hormone pregnancy test blamed for causing serious birth defects.

Theresa May has urged the government to consider “redress” for the victims of a hormone pregnancy test blamed for causing serious birth defects.

The former prime minister said that while Primodos victims had received an apology, “lives have suffered as a result” of the drug’s use.

In an interview for a Sky News documentary, she praised campaigners who had been “beating their head against a brick wall of the state” which tried to “stop them in their tracks”.

A review in 2017 found that scientific evidence did “not support a causal association” between the use of hormone pregnancy tests such as Primodos and birth defects or miscarriage.

But Ms May ordered a second review in 2018, because, she said, she felt that it “wasn’t the slam-dunk answer that people said it was”.

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