Victims of the cancer-linked pregnancy drug diethylstilbestrol (DES) are set to meet Health Secretary Wes Streeting on Monday to demand a public inquiry into what they describe as a “silent scandal”. The campaign group DES Justice UK (DJUK), which has over 500 members, is also calling for an NHS screening programme to identify those at risk from exposure to the drug.
DES, a synthetic form of oestrogen, was prescribed to pregnant women in the UK from 1940 to the 1970s to prevent miscarriage and other complications. It was later linked to clear cell adenocarcinoma, a rare cancer of the cervix and vagina, as well as breast, pancreatic and cervical cancers. Despite US regulators advising against its use in pregnant women in 1971, it continued to be prescribed in Europe until 1978.
DJUK estimates that around 300,000 women were prescribed DES in the UK. Affected individuals include women who took the drug and their children and grandchildren, who have suffered infertility, reproductive abnormalities and increased cancer risks. Susie Martin, 55, from Manchester, whose mother took DES, has undergone between 20 and 30 operations. She said: “The impact of this terrible drug cannot be underestimated… This has been the silent scandal for too long.”
Clare Fletcher, a partner at Broudie Jackson Canter representing DJUK, said: “This is one of the biggest pharmaceutical scandals this country has ever seen… The only way to get the truth is with a statutory public inquiry.” Compensation schemes exist for DES victims in the US and Netherlands, but not in the UK.
A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson said the government is “looking seriously at this legacy issue” and that NHS England has alerted cancer alliances to the impacts of DES. Streeting previously apologised to victims, saying the “state got it wrong”, and urged those affected to contact their GP.
