OTTAWA, ON, December 14, 1989 - "We did not expect that thalidomide victims would be included in any compensation package at this time." Cliff Chadderton, Chairman of The War Amps of Canada's Thalidomide Task Force stated today following a government announcement that a program would be put into place to compensate hemophiliacs who were contaminated with the HIV virus.

Personnel from both the Thalidomide Task Force and the Thalidomide Victims Association of Canada have been meeting with administrative officers in the Department of National Health and Welfare, in order to clarify the claim on behalf of thalidomide victims, which was included in the Task Force report submitted to the Minister of National Health and Welfare on February 14th of this year.

"We have stated from the beginning that thalidomide victims should not be included in any compensation plan for other groups who may have a claim against the government," stated Chadderton. "The responsibility for the thalidomide disaster can be laid directly at the feet of those government officials who issued the import licence to the American manufacturer, which allowed the drug on to the Canadian market in 1960. Such officials should have acted under the authority of the Food and Drug Act to keep the drug off the market."

The thalidomide claim has special status, as well, in that the then minister of National Health and Welfare, the Honourable J. Waldo Monteith, made a commitment to provide assistance to the thalidomide victims in a statement on January 29, 1963.

The Thalidomide Task Force is continuing to pursue the matter through the Human Rights Committee of the United Nations. It is understood that the Geneva-based committee has requested that Canada provide explanatory data regarding its handling of thalidomide. The committee is expecting a reply from the Canadian government early in the new year.