Primodos: court rules out families' bid to win redress over pregnancy test drug
The Guardian|May 27, 2023
An attempt by more than 100 UK families to seek compensation for birth defects they say were caused by the hormone-based pregnancy test Primodos has been struck out by the high court
Hannah Devlin
Primodos: court rules out families' bid to win redress over pregnancy test drug

The families, who believe their babies suffered a range of congenital abnormalities due to the drug, were hoping to rekindle a civil case against the manufacturer after a previous attempt collapsed in 1982. But Mrs Justice Yip ruled there was not enough new evidence to show a causal link between the tests and congenital malformations, and that as a result the families did not have a realistic chance of winning their case.

“There has not been a scientific revolution, or anything approaching one,” she said, in a written judgment published yesterday. “There remained insufficient evidence [in 1982] to demonstrate a causal association. That is still the position today.”

Primodos was a hormone-based drug used between the 1950s and 70s for regulating menstrual periods, which was then licensed and promoted as a pregnancy test.

This story is from the May 27, 2023 edition of The Guardian.

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This story is from the May 27, 2023 edition of The Guardian.

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