Prime Minister Anthony Albanese will today deliver an apology to Australian survivors of one of the world's worst pharmaceutical disasters: Thalidomide. The mid-century drug used to treat morning sickness caused severe defects and irreparable damage to the offspring of pregnant women. Survivor Trish Jackson will be at today's apology, she says its long overdue.
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00:00 We are thrilled that they're making the apology, but the apology will mean nothing if they
00:05 don't follow up with actions of simplifying the health fund that they created for us,
00:11 because they created this health fund, but it is so physically demanding to get anything
00:17 back, like for medications and stuff, that a lot of survivors just don't bother because
00:22 it's just too hard for them to do it.
00:24 Finding a doctor that understands is the first challenge, and I've been to doctors and
00:29 they've asked me, "Can I ask you a question?"
00:32 I go, "Yeah, of course you can."
00:34 And they go, "What's wrong with you?"
00:35 And I go, "Well, I'm a thalidomide baby."
00:37 And they go, "What's thalidomide?"
00:39 And they're doctors, so that's a big challenge that we have to find the doctor that kind
00:46 of understands what we go through, because it's not just the missing limbs.
00:50 There's so much internal damage as well, because in my case I had heart and lung complications,
00:56 so I've had many open heart surgeries, and I will still need more in the future.
01:00 So it's just ongoing.
01:02 As I say, thalidomide's the drug that just keeps on giving us problems.
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