• 27
  • December
    2011

Efforts by the German drug manufacturer Grunenthal to have a class action products liability lawsuit filed against it by Australian women and their children has been defeated. An Australian court ruled that the plaintiffs had the right to have their claims adjudicated in their own country's courts. The lawsuit involves numerous birth defects the plaintiffs say were caused by the drug Thalidomide.

The drug was used by pregnant women during the decade of the 1950s, as well as early in the 1960s. Following indications that it caused horrible birth defects, it was removed from sale. Thousands of children throughout the globe suffered major deformities.

The medication was touted as useful in preventing morning sickness in pregnant women. A lead plaintiff in the Australian lawsuit against the drug's manufacturer is a woman who contends that she was born without legs or arms following the administration of Thalidomide to her pregnant mother. Other defendants in the lawsuit include a company which distributed the drug in the country, as well as a successor company to that corporation.

Plaintiffs in the lawsuit can include those born with allegedly Thalidomide related birth defects in the time period commencing at the start of 1958, and ending on the last day of 1970. So far, approximately 100 persons have indicated that they may join in pursuing the class action claims.

Millions of dollars have already been received in lawsuit or claim settlements in many other areas of the world. The government of Great Britain in 2011 agreed to pay $31 million to that nation's Thalidomide victims.

Source: Associated Press, "Suit against Thalidomide maker set for Australia," Kristen Gelineau, August 20, 2011.