THE GREAT PRIMODOS COVER-UP
New documentary claims makers knew at an early stage pregnancy test drug was causing birth defects Claims back up earlier Daily Record stories of families whose lives were changed forever by child illnesses
THE makers of a controversial hormone pregnancy test linked to birth deformities knew of potential risks from an early stage, a TV documentary will claim tomorrow.
The Sky News investigation claims German firm Schering, now Bayer, failed to act upon information about Primodos.
Investigators claim to have uncovered evidence that reinforces previous studies suggesting that Primodos pills – used in the 60s and 70s – affected unborn babies.
It backs up claims by mums in the Record over the past three years.
In June 2014, Rose and Bobby Stallard, of Chapelhall, Lanarkshire, told how they had waited 40 years to learn whether Primodos had left their child brain-damaged. Rose, 70, blames the pills for affecting her daughter Elizabeth.
The couple joined the Association For Children Damaged By Hormone Pregnancy Testing and found that other women across the UK who had taken the drug had babies with other birth defects.
Rose said: “There were people who had been born without limbs, some deformed, women who had miscarried – the list was endless. But what we all had in common was that we had taken the Primodos drug during pregnancy with no warnings.”
In January 2015, the Record also spoke to Wilma Ord, 69, from Livingston, who took the pill in 1970, while pregnant.
Her daughter Kirsteen McGovern, 46, was born profoundly deaf, severely asthmatic and has cerebral palsy.
In February 2015, Russell Kelly said he also believes his birth defects could have been caused by the drug given to his mum Nancy. Russell, 42, from Glasgow, was born without his left hand and part of his arm missing.
Nancy said: “The Record championed the case in the 70s and 80s and I’m glad that to this day, they are still giving victims a platform to fight back.”
Their stories are similar to mums in the Sky probe, such as campaigner Robin Hayes whose son died as a result of a heart defect, aged 10, after his wife took Primodos while pregnant.
Now Sky claim to have evidence Schering covered up links to defects. They claim the firm knew the drug – still being prescribed as a pregnancy test in the UK – was being used as an effective abortive in other parts of the world.
They also claim to have minutes of meetings between Schering’s lawyers which prove no toxicology reports were carried out on Primodos before its release.
Primodos was not taken off the market until 1978, after 1.5million pregnant UK women had taken it.
UK health minister Lord O’Shaughnessy said: “I welcome this investigation – it’s vital we take concerns such as these seriously. That’s why we’ve asked the Medicine and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency to conduct a thorough scientific review of the evidence.”
In 1982, a group action against Schering Chemicals was shelved. An independent inquiry into claims between links of birth defects and hormone pregnancy tests, such as Primodos, was set up in 2014.
Bayer argue the abandonment of the legal challenge in 1982 and the absence of further evidence demonstrates there is no case to answer.
They say Primodos was on the market in the UK “in compliance with prevailing laws”. They said the view at the time and today after a full review is that “evidence for a causal association between the use of hormonal pregnancy tests and an increased incidence of congenital malformations was extremely weak”.
They “reject any suggestion” that anything has been concealed other than privileged documents. They said “all of the historical materials were disclosed in the litigation to the claimant’s advisors” who discontinued their action “in full knowledge of the facts and opinions.” ●Primodos: The Secret Drug Scandal is on Sky Atlantic tonight at 8pm