A woman left disabled after her mum took pregnancy drug Primodos before she was born has called on the Government to give her the same financial support as Thalidomide victims.
Health Secretary Humza Yousaf last week announced lifetime funding for Thalidomide survivors. The measure extends a 2013 agreement which granted people £14.2million over 10 years to help meet their health and living costs.
Now campaigners are calling on Holyrood ministers to develop a similar scheme for Primodos. Women were given Primodos in the 1960s and 70s as a hormone pregnancy test drug in the form of two pills, which caused a period if they were not pregnant.
Campaigners blame it and other similar drugs for causing abnormalities in thousands of babies.
Sammy Paton was born in 1971 with what medics described as “gross malformations” and now blames the Primodos tablets her mum was given while pregnant. Now 50, she has a short right arm with two digits, one leg shorter than the other and was born without a ball and socket joint in one hip as well as two dislocated hips.
She had countless surgeries to correct her hips and right leg but at 15 had her foot amputated, hoping a prosthetic leg would give her a better quality of life. However, the result wasn’t as successful as surgeons hoped and Sammy now relies on an electric wheelchair and has limited use of an ill-fitting prosthetic limb.
She said: “People like myself were born with these difficulties through no fault of their own. We need more support. These were drugs prescribed by doctors.”
Sammy, who lives in Edinburgh, has also had to endure two hip replacements and knee fusion and had to give up her job in 2008 and eventually move into social housing.
She added: “My kitchen was adapted to suit my short arm, which was fine when I could wear my prosthetic leg but, now I use my wheelchair, I struggle to reach things. I have had to use a chemical toilet in my bedroom for the last 12 years.
"I wanted an adjustable bed but had to pay £2000 for that myself. I have terrible nerve pain so applied for a special bath but was told I didn’t meet the criteria.
“If I could work or if I had more money, I could adapt my kitchen so I don’t burn myself making a meal and fit a toilet upstairs so I had some dignity. I could buy myself a new leg that fits and doesn’t cause me pain.”
There are 50 known survivors of the morning sickness pill Thalidomide in Scotland and grants will be allocated on a needs basis.
Primodos, made by pharmaceutical firm Schering, was taken off the market in 1978 amid fears of a link to birth defects. By then 1.5million women in the UK had taken it.
In July 2020 a UK independent review which examined the use of Primodos found health regulators had failed patients and the drug was responsible for “avoidable harm”.
The review also recommended the creation of a legal redress agency for those harmed by medical devices but Primodos campaigners are still fighting for financial redress.
Marie Lyon, of the Association for Children Damaged by Hormone Pregnancy Tests, said: “If the Scottish Government would come forward and grant support to the Scottish people, it would be so beneficial.”
In 2006 Schering was taken over by Bayer, which denies Primodos was responsible. A Bayer spokesman said he could not comment.
A Scottish Government spokesperson said: “We continue to press the UK Government on the issue of redress, which it is responsible for.”
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