Spain finally recognises thalidomide victims

Fifty two years after the first cases of congenital abnormality appeared in babies whose mothers had taken thalidomide in the 1960s, the Spanish government is ready to pay compensation to those affected.

Of the total €1.6m (£1.3m; $2.1m) the government has made available, €30 000 each will be apportioned to those judged to have a mild degree of disability, €60 000 to those moderately affected, and €80 000 to those severely affected.

But the exact number of people who are likely to receive compensation is not yet known, because those affected have until 30 September this year to apply for a share of the funds from the Institute of Social Services for Elders (Imserso).

Not every applicant is likely to be successful, however. The government cut the 90 requests for compensation it had received in 2006-8 to just 24 after individual case review, on the grounds that not all these related to birth defects caused by thalidomide.

José Riquelme, president of the Spanish Association of Victims of Thalidomide (Avite), is pleased that the Spanish government has finally recognised the damage caused by thalidomide after such a long time but says that too few of those affected will be eligible for help and that the amount of compensation is inadequate.

“For us, this official recognition is already a victory, but there are still many things to fight for, which thalidomide victims in other countries were granted decades ago. But after 52 years of being made invisible by the state and pharmaceutical companies we have become visible at last,” he said.

Seven brands of thalidomide were available from 1957 possibly up to 1973 in Spain, and membership of Avite has now risen to 400, so the true number of those eligible for compensation could be much higher than the government has anticipated, Mr Riquelme said.

Avite has therefore asked for a meeting with the health minister, Trinidad Jiménez, in September to persuade her to reopen the clinical assessment period for claimants. Avite also wants a specialist medical unit for thalidomide victims to be set up to enable them to undergo regular check ups with specialists.

The Spanish government is not planning to pay for prosthetic limbs or to provide long term disability pensions for those affected by thalidomide, unlike governments in Italy, Germany, the United Kingdom, Sweden, Japan, and Brazil.

Avite insists that it is vital to know how much thalidomide was prescribed in Spain during the 1950s and 1960s, otherwise it will be impossible to assess the true numbers of people who are disabled as a direct consequence of their mother taking the drug during pregnancy.

But Manuel Carreño, who is in charge of administering the fund for Imserso, says that estimating final numbers will be difficult, because in 1957 “there were none of the methods for recording births that we have now.”