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Thalidomide Compensation Deadline
Added: (Mon Jul 10 2006)
Manchester, UK - July 10, 2006.
Thalidomide was a drug widely dispensed to pregnant women in the UK between 1959 and 1961. The effects that the drug had on new born babies, and the families involved, was one of the most shocking events in British pharmaceutical history.
A deadline has now been imposed to stop all future Thalidomide compensation claims.
Penny Wilson a 47 year old Thalidomide victim from Liverpool said “People don't realise just how hard it is to lead anything like a normal life with the massive disabilities that Thalidomide has wrought. As you get older those physical problems get worse and to be denied help because of a deadline that people don't even know about would be dreadful.”
Penny is one of the more fortunate Thalidomide victims as her solicitor, Deirdre Healy of Pannone LLP in Manchester achieved a £225,000 compensation settlement that will provide help and support payments for Penny as she gets older.
Penny added, “Pannone's help and the support I've had from the Thalidomide Trust have been invaluable.”
Thalidomide compensation solicitor Deirdre Healy explains “An agreement was reached last year between the drugs producer the Distillers Group, now part of Diageo, and the Thalidomide Trust. This provided a substantial boost to the funding of the Trust, enabling them to increase compensation payments to Thalidomide victims and help them cope financially as they become older.
“Whilst this was good news, it also imposed a December 2006 deadline for any new Thalidomide compensation claims. This concerns me because it can take six months to gather the medical evidence needed to progress a Thalidomide claim, which makes the December 2006 deadline imminent.
Thalidomide victims should come forward now or loose compensation.
“It is essential that anyone who suspects they may have been affected by Thalidomide to come forward immediately. If they don't, they stand to lose many thousands of pounds in compensation and support payments.”
Thalidomide compensation claim settlements can range from between £25,000 to £50 Million pounds which means a massive difference in the quality of life that Thalidomide victims can enjoy.
Pauline Chandler is a personal injury solicitor that specialises in industrial disease compensation claim cases. Pauline has pioneered several industrial disease cases that have become legal precedents, including welder's lung disease, asthma cases and asbestosis compensation claims. Pauline qualified as a solicitor in 1974, is a Member of the Law Society Personal Injury Panel and a partner at Pannone LLP.
Pannone LLP is the law firm that handled almost all of the Thalidomide compensation claims in the UK. The firm currently has 320 specialist solicitors and lawyers; the complete staff of 630 is based in Manchester, England.
Pauline Chandler can be contacted by telephone on 0870 164 2372 or by e-mail to law@pannone.co.uk
For additional information please contact:
Deborah Ascott-Jones
Director of Marketing
Pannone LLP
Tel: 0870 164 2372
Web: www.pannone.com
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