We’re joining fight for justice over Primodos
Families’ heartache over hormone pregancy test drug
SCORES of families who blame hormone pregnancy test drug Primodos for damaging their unborn children have joined the fight for justice after a Daily Record appeal.
We have led the way in reporting on those affected by Primodos, made by Schering and given to women as a pregnancy test from 1958 to 1978. Now more families have told how their lives have been destroyed by the drug.
Terry and Alison Shields, from Torryburn, Fife, blame Primodos for denying them a family.
Alison, who was born with a heart defect, had been given the green light by specialists to go ahead with one pregnancy. But after their daughter was stillborn in May 1975, the couple were advised against trying again.
Alison, now 72, said: “The doctor told me to take the tablets in the pack and bring the rest back to the surgery.
“He didn’t write a prescription, he just took them out his desk drawer.
“I had no concerns during my pregnancy only a little less movement than others but I was later diagnosed with pre-eclampsia. When I was nearly full term, I had a scan and the doctor said, ‘Some people leave with a baby and some don’t.’
“He told me he would see me again in the maternity ward next year but I knew I’d never be back. That was our one and only chance.
“I would never have taken those tablets if I’d known there were any risks to my unborn baby.”
The couple say they have lived with the regret of never holding their daughter, who they named Sharon.
Alison said: “They just whisked her away. We didn’t know what happened to her body. I don’t remember ever being asked if I wanted to attend the service.
“I just got a bill for the funeral and a birth certificate without her name on it. She was just a number. I later asked a nurse at my GP’s surgery why I hadn’t been given the chance to see her when she was born.
“She told me, ‘Believe me, you wouldn’t want to’ and I never knew what that meant.”
Her husband Terry, 75, added: “It was heartbreaking. I never got to see or hold her. The nurse walked past me with her in the corridor but I didn’t get to see her.”
After reading coverage in the Record, the couple began to believe Primodos was to blame.
Terry said: “Those pills have denied so many people. We couldn’t have more children. We now have no family of our own and no grandchildren.
“That was taken away from us. We had only one chance. We believe Primodos was responsible because there are too many people like us out there. There are too many unanswered questions. Now people need closure, they deserve to know what happened to their babies.”
Nan McGradie, from Drongan in Ayr, took Primodos is February 1975. Three months later, a warning was put on the packet saying it should not be used during pregnancy. But it was too late for Nan. Her daughter Michelle was born critically ill, with life-threatening complications. Miraculously Michelle, now 43, survived but continues to suffer medical issues. Nan, 66, blamed herself for Michelle’s condition until she read about another mum’s plight in April 1987. She said: “My husband alerted me to the Record article and I was shocked to put it mildly. “It highlighted the story of a woman whose daughter had been born with severe health issues and she suspected the pills she took during pregnancy were to blame. From her description I knew they were the same drugs I’d taken. “I firmly believe that until I took that drug my baby was developing normally. I remember walking back from the clinic that day pondering the wonders of medical science. “Little did I know that those two innocent-looking pills were about to cause harm to my developing child. Now Michelle has to live with chronic illness every day.” Wendy Brown was born with neck and throat problems and her feet, leg and left hand are deformed after her mum took Primodos in 1962 while she was pregnant with her.
In 2016, the Record exposed claims of a Primodos cover-up and Wendy, 56, was shocked at the debate.
Wendy, from Tobermory on the isle of Mull, said: “I am one of five and the only one my mother took Primodos with. As I get older the more difficult it is as my feet and hand are more painful due to their structure.
“It’s very frustrating to think the Government and drug companies responsible are refusing to acknowledge the harm they have done to these families, despite all the evidence.” All these families now want justice. Last year, the UK Government ordered an Independent Medicines and Medical Devices Safety Review into health scandals – including Primodos.
The review is expected to conclude later this year and campaigners hope it will bring them some answers.
Bayer, which acquired Schering in 2006, denies Primodos was responsible for causing any deformities in children.
It added that UK litigation in respect of Primodos, against Schering, ended in 1982 when the claimants’ legal team decided to discontinue the litigation on the grounds there was no realistic possibility of showing Primodos caused the alleged congenital abnormalities.
Bayer said since the legal bid ended, no new scientific knowledge had been produced that would call into question the validity of the previous assessment.
Have you been affected by Primodos? Contact jennifer.hyland@reachplc.com