Makers Of Thalidomide To Face Trial In May

Press, Volume CVIII, Issue 31583, 22 January 1968, Page 11

Makers Of Thalidomide To Face Trial In May

(N.Z.P.A -Reuter—Copyright) AACHEN (West Germany), January 21. The West German manufacturers of Thalidomide, the tranquilliser blamed for deforming thousands of babies before birth, will go on trial in May, the Aachen Court has announced.

The trial could take about 12 months. The indictment names 26 experts among 378 witnesses.

It was on March 14 of last year that the Aachen Public Prosecutor laid formal charges of negligent killing and deliberately causing bodily harm against nine directors and technicians of Chemie Grue-

nenthal, the firm which put the drug on the German mar ket 11 years ago. The indictment was based on 60,000 pages of testimony, some of it from Britain, Sweden and the United States, covering 952 pages. The Aachen Public Prosecutor conducted a four-year investigation into the causes of deformities in an estimated 4000 surviving “thalidomide” children in West Germany. Some 500 of the children started school last autumn.

Their deformities range from slight distortions of arms or legs to a complete absence of limbs. Some have internal disorders. The court says it has ac cepted the Prosecutor’s indictments against all nine directors and technicians of Chemie Gruenenthal. They are alleged to have failed to withdraw the drug as soon as its adverse effects! became known. Thalidomide was frequently prescribed during pregnancy.