Thalidomide Group Australia
Here now ... Looking for Justice
Worldwide
Governments
What some governments have done for their survivors...
UK National Government
1973: The Thalidomide Trust was set up to
administer payments made by Distillers, who
had distributed the Thalidomide drug in the UK.
1973: Distillers (now Diageo), agreed to pay £20 million
sterling in compensation.
1974: The British government donated £5 million
sterling to the Thalidomide Trust, which was an
offset of tax on the original £20 million paid in
by Distillers.
1996: The British government, without offering any
particular reason, donated a further £7 million.
2004: The UK government introduced new legislation
(Statutory Instrument 2004 1819) so that the
Annual Grants received by beneficiaries were
treated as damages for personal injury and
were therefore exempt from Tax.
2005: Distillers agreed a complex new multi-year
financial settlement estimated to cost in the
order of £153 million as additional
compensation for Thalidomide survivors.
The additional funding provided for covenant
payments to be increased and for the
payments to be extended from 2022 to 2037.
This was calculated on the basis of the money
required to double beneficiary annual
payments from 2004 levels by 2022.
2010/Jan 14: British Health Minister, Mike O’Brien,
confirmed a new £20 million support package,
which had been announced during the month of
December ’09.
This was for three years funding (initially on a
pilot basis) to meet the increased health needs of
beneficiaries.
The £20 million will be administered through the
Thalidomide Trust.
If the £20 million was to be divided equally across
all surviving Thalidomide survivors in the UK,
each survivor would receive in the order of
£43,000 sterling (dependent on their level of
Thalidomide damage).
2010: United Kingdom Health Minister (Mike O’Brien)
makes a formal apology to their Thalidomide
Victims, expressing “sincere regret and deep
sympathy” on behalf of the government.
2012/Dec 20: Brittish government paid £80-million
sterling into the Thalidomide Trust.
2017: The UK government introduces a "benefits
disregard" so that the funding received by the
UK Thalidomide survivors from the Thalidomide
Trust is disregarded when they are assessed for
eligibility to receive state-funded benefits.
National Government of Ireland
1970: the German government set up a compensation
scheme from which Irish Thalidomiders received
financial support.
In detail Thalidomiders received the following;
1) A lump sum ranging between DM7,500
(IR£1,250 approximately) and DM25,000 (IR£4,200
approx), and
2) A monthly allowance for life ranging between
DM100 (IR£17 approx) and DM450 (IR£75 approx).
1973: The Irish government as a matter of principal
decided to significantly increase the German
compensation scheme.
In addition to the German scheme the
Irish government provided the following;
1) A lump sum ranging between IR£6,600 and
IR£21,300, and
2) A monthly allowance for life ranging between
IR£31.75 and IR£95.00.
The allowances, German and Irish, are tax-free, are not reckonable for State benefits and each of the Thalidomide survivors are the holders of medical cards. In addition, a Thalidomide survivor can also claim disability allowance of approximately €849 per month or €10,192 per annum (2010 figures).
If disability allowance is added (€849 per month – 2010 figures) the total tax-free sum claimable by a Thalidomide survivor is €1,773 (least severe) or €3,381 (most severe) monthly i.e. €21,280 or €40,568 annually (2010 figures).
Updated figures are still being researched by this website.
Federal Government of Australia
Mid to late 1960’s: The Australian Government made
available the facilities of Veterans Affairs to
provide the fitting of artificial limbs for those
children missing either upper or lower limbs.
1974: The Australian government made a one-off
payment of $150,000 to off-set the taxes earned
by the Thalidomide Foundation.
Following any settlements in 1974 (Distillers), 2010 (Diageo), and 2014 (Diageo), the Federal Government passed legislation ensuring that the lump sum and ex-gratia payments were not considered income and therefore not liable for payment of income tax.
Canadian Government
1980: Thalidomide victims settled with
William S Merrell (Canadian distributors).
1991: Federal Government gave survivors of
Thalidomide a one-time payout of $8.5 million.
(between $52,000 - $82,000 a person depending
on level of disability)
2015/Early: Federal Government offered a second
lump-sum payment of $125,000 to survivors.
The Government also promised $168-million
availability as annual compensation,
(although did not explain how survivors would
access that fund).
2015/May: Details provided on the $168-million
included victims of Thalidomide receiving
annual payments of up to $100,000, depending
on level of disability.
2015: Federal Government to create an annual
Extraordinary Medical Assistance Fund of
$5000,000 to assist survivors with medical, living,
and transport expenses.
2015: Health Canada to allocate an administrator to
manage the EMA Fund and compensation
re-assessments levels.
German Federal Government
Grünenthal, the German manufacturer of the drug, set up a €50m (£41m) fund for 3,000 thalidomide victims on the Continent, mostly in Germany, and unveiled a memorial last September when, for the first time, it expressed its “sincere regrets” and “deep sympathy” for those affected. But it has never compensated the British victims.
2012: The inventor of Thalidomide (the Grünenthal Group) releases a statement saying it regrets the consequences of the drug.
“We ask that you regard our long silence
as a sign of the silent shock that your
fate has caused us!”
Company Chief Executive, Harold Stock
On average, German survivors of Thalidomide receive the equivalent of £10,000 sterling a year from a foundation funded by Chemie Grünenthal and the government.
Updated figures are still being researched by this website.
