Campaigners who warned four years ago about the deadly cancer dangers of the drug Stilbestrol say they are “ashamed” the Scottish Government did nothing about it.
Westminster Health Secretary Wes Streeting reacted immediately to a TV news item last week on the dangers of Stilbestrol by ordering an investigation.
But Scottish ministers have been accused of abandoning their responsibility towards the 30,000 women here who were given the drug before it was banned in the 1970s.
Marion McMillan, 74, who was given “handfuls” of the drug after she gave birth to a baby boy at a Salvation Army mother and baby home over 50 years ago, said: “I’m ashamed Scotland did nothing at all about the Stilbestrol scandal despite the cancer risks to so many women, as well as the horrific health risks to their children and grandchildren.
“In 2021, we begged the Scottish Government to raise awareness. Some of the most respected medical experts in the world joined us, voicing their concern over the need to change protocols to ensure women exposed to Stilbestrol get the checks needed to spot the early signs of cancers and other health issues which could threaten their lives.
“Scotland should have been leading the world on this issue. Instead of that, we are sitting watching as the UK Government, immediately recognising the seriousness of what can happen to women given this drug, are doing what we should have started four years ago.”
Dangers of Stilbestrol
The Sunday Post broke the news about the “ticking timebomb” dangers of Stilbestrol, the synthetic hormone widely used to treat threatened miscarriage as well as given to forced adoption victims to dry up their breastmilk so their babies could be taken.
We revealed the risk of deadly cancers, birth defects and damage to the reproductive systems of the women given the drug as well as to their children and grandchildren.
Drug manufacturers have been quietly settling cases around the world, demanding claimants sign non-disclosure agreements, hoping to keep the scandal under wraps.
Marion, from Paisley, who is now dying of cancer, said: “It is utterly astonishing that despite delivering that official apology in 2023, our SNP government has delivered nothing but silence ever since despite the public health risk posed by the historic use of this drug.
“It’s a shameful dereliction of their duty to the public.”
Consultant gynaecologist Wael Agur joined campaigners last year to call for government action as victims from the US and Australia attended a parliamentary round table delivering evidence on Stilbestrol.
He said: “There is no doubt that large numbers of women were given this drug, but no records appear to have been kept to show just how many. We need a public inquiry, and we need international data sharing.”
Streeting reacted immediately to last week’s news item on Stilbestrol, describing the scandal as “extremely shocking” and ordering officials to immediately investigate risks.
Campaigners in England say around 300,000 women there were given Stilbestrol. But watchdog the MHRA insists there are “no records”.
The Scottish Government said: “Medicine licensing is the responsibility of the UK Government and any investigation of Stilbestrol would ultimately be a matter for them.”
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