Primodos mum grief
Campaigner Rose loses lung cancer fight as husband Bobby battles on
A mum who blamed hormone pregnancy test drugs for damaging her daughter’s health has died before seeing justice.
Campaigner Rose Stallard believed Primodos was responsible for her daughter Elizabeth, 50, being born brain damaged.
Primodos, made by Schering, was taken off the market in 1978 amid fears of a link to birth defects. By that point, 1.5million women had taken it.
Rose, from Airdrie, and husband Bobby were part of an ongoing group legal action against drug firms and the UK Government by families who claim Primodos caused their babies’ abnormalities.
Rose died last month from lung cancer aged 73. Bobby, 75, said he would fight on. He said: “To see justice for Elizabeth and get the answers we wanted was Rose’s last wish.” Last July, a UK independent review found government health regulators had failed patients and that Primodos was responsible for “avoidable harm”. It said the drug should have been removed from the market in 1967.
Bayer, owners of Schering, said it would not discuss ongoing litigation. It added: “Bayer denies Primodos was responsible for causing any deformities in children. UK litigation in respect of Primodos against Schering ended in 1982 when the claimants’ legal team, with the approval of the court, decided to discontinue the litigation on the grounds there was no realistic possibility of showing that Primodos caused the congenital abnormalities alleged.”