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'Thalidomiders': still fighting for justice

(The Independent 26/05/2009)

Fifty years after the Thalidomide scandal, its victims' compensation funds are dwindling. Jeremy Laurance meets Nick Dobrik, whose extraordinary campaign aims to give them dignity and independence in old age. If you have ever taken a headache remedy, swallowed an antibiotic, sucked on an asthma inhaler, been injected with a cancer medicine or taken any drug developed in the last half century, you owe a debt to Nick Dobrik and the thousands like him.

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Scots claim to have solved the mystery of thalidomide

(The Scotsman 12/05/2009)

THALIDOMIDE, the drug which blighted a generation in the 1960s, was yesterday at the centre of fresh controversy as Scots researchers claimed to have finally solved the cause of its devastating effects on unborn babies. Their findings reveal that a component of the drug prevented the growth of new blood vessels in the developing embryo. And their discovery also explains, for the first time, why the drug only caused birth defects during a short timeframe in the developing baby in the womb.

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Middle age battle

(BBC 23/04/2009)

People disabled by the morning-sickness drug, thalidomide, are now facing new health problems as they approach middle age. A 46-year-old man from Brighton found it particularly difficult when he was told he needed reading glasses. As well as other birth defects caused by the drug, John Roberts' ears did not develop. Because he is unable to wear glasses, Mr Roberts has had laser treatment on his "bad" eye and it is now usable.

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Thalidomide payout demanded

(BBC 18/04/2008)

Dozens of people born with deformities due to thalidomide demand compensation from the drug company.

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