OTTAWA, ON, February 14, 1989 - The drug thalidomide, which damaged more than 125 Canadian babies born in the early 1960s, was allowed into the country because of an error on the part of Canada's Food and Drug Directorate. This and other facts about the drug tragedy are contained in a report which The War Amputations of Canada's Thalidomide Task Force is delivering to the Minister of Health and Welfare today.

The three-volume report states that government officials failed to exercise their jurisdiction in obtaining adequate data from the drug companies and that a strong case for compensation from the government exists for Canadian thalidomide victims.

"The lack of government action is apparent for all to see," stated Cliff Chadderton, head of the task force and chief executive officer of The War Amps. "Legislation at the time required the Food and Drug Directorate to obtain adequate reports regarding the safety of any new medicinal product before issuing a license for its importation into Canada."

The Task Force report states that when the drug was licensed for sale in Canada, there were in fact warnings being issued worldwide about the horrible side effects of the drug. In the United States, the Food and Drug Administration turned down an application to market the drug by The William S. Merrell Company, the same company which was successful in bringing it into Canada. In addition, the Canadian government failed to take the drug off the market until April 1962, a full three months after it had been banned in Germany and Great Britain.

Thalidomide was available here under the trade names 'Kevadon' and 'Talimol'.

Although no definitive records were maintained in Canada, a government official reported in 1963 that 115 victims had been identified, of whom only 74 were still living. There is strong reason to believe that the actual figure is much higher.

The report identifies the special needs of the Canadian victims and sets out a formula to determine compensation payments.

Members of the Task Force, which includes people involved in the Canadian thalidomide disaster since the beginning, have been working on the report for the past 18 months. The Task Force is also continuing to press Merrell -- now Dow Chemical -- for additional compensation.

The Task Force has also assisted Canadian victims in establishing the Thalidomide Victims Association of Canada and in setting up a trust fund to administer compensation payments.

"The government made a commitment to help these people many years ago," states Chadderton, "but it was never fulfilled. The Honourable J. Waldo Monteith, then minister of National Health and Welfare, stated: 'It is our job to ensure that these victims are cared for in the best possible manner [and] that their needs are met to the fullest extent we can devise.

"We think it's time the government live up to its promise."

The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation is airing a 90-minute documentary commercial free tonight which looks at the lives of these special Canadians. The documentary, entitled 'Broken Promises', was produced by John Zaritsky and Virginia Storring of K.. A. Productions.