Australia thalidomide victims reach settlement in class action

A class action over birth defects linked to the morning sickness drug thalidomide was settled in an Australian court on Monday, with the British distributor agreeing to pay victims 89 million Australian dollars (US$81 million).

Lawyers representing some 100 Australian and New Zealand victims of the drug told the Victorian Supreme Court that settlement had been reached with Diageo, which owns now defunct thalidomide distributor the Distillers Co.

The settlement, which is subject to court approval, ended a long battle for compensation. A suit against the drug's German manufacturer, the Grunenthal Group, will be discontinued.

"It's been a long time coming," lawyer Peter Gordon told the court.

The lawsuit's lead plaintiff, Lynette Rowe, settled her own case against Diageo in July last year for an undisclosed amount and was in court Monday to hear Gordon's announcement. Diageo had indicated at the time of Rowe's settlement that it was prepared to negotiate with the rest of the action's claimants.

Rowe was born in 1962 without arms and legs after her mother took thalidomide during pregnancy. Her legal team claimed Australia had been targeted as a priority market for the drug.

Thalidomide was launched in the late 1950s and was sold in nearly 50 countries before it was withdrawn after babies began showing severe side effects from the drug.

An estimated 10,000 children worldwide were born with deformities, including the absence of arms and legs.

Thalidomide lawsuits have been filed across the world over the years. In 2010, the British government officially apologized to people hurt by the drug, after earlier agreeing to pay 20 million pounds ($31 million) to thalidomide victims.

A Spanish court last month ordered Grunenthal to pay compensation to 22 Spaniards born with disabilities after their mothers used thalidomide decades ago.

Madrid's provincial court ordered the company to pay 20,000 euros ($26,300) for each percentage point of disability a victim had, as recognized by Spain's Health Ministry.

Wire services