Recompense for drug damage

Press, 19 July 1976, Page 18

Recompense for drug damage

PA Wellington. New Zealanders suffering rom the side effects of the English drug Eraldin arc

eligible for financial compensation. Money would be offered in compensation to people who had suffered permanent injuries as a result of taking Eraldin, Mr D. R. Green, said the chairman of Imperial Chemical Industries (New Zealand), Ltd. It would be paid to those who applied to the company. It was not known how I much money would be paid out, but it would be in line with the attitudes adopted in Britain and Australia. In Britain $150,000 has been paid to the 100 people who claimed compensation. Payments have ranged from $lOOO to $lO,OOO. 1.C.1., the New Zealand | marketers .of the drug, knew |of 28 cases of suspected I adverse reaction to the drug. (But almost all of the people had completely recovered. ' It was not known how many had suffered permanent injury. Eraldin was first marketed in New Zealand in 1971 and was withdrawn from the market in 1975 after side effects were reported in a small percentage of users. About 5500 New Zealanders used the drug before it was withdrawn. It was used for treating high blood pressure, some heart diseases, asthma and bronchitis. 1.C.1. scientists in England, who are still investigating Eraldin, say that side effects include permanent damage to the vision, various degrees of deafness and peritoneal sclerosis (two layers of the stomach-lining fused).