Dáil Éireann díospóireacht -
Tuesday, 10 Apr 2001

Vol. 534 No. 3

Written Answers. - Maternity Services.

Gay Mitchell

Ceist:

183 Mr. G. Mitchell asked the Minister for Health and Children if he will make a statement on reports that a pregnancy drug left a legacy of infertility and miscarriages; and if compensation is being considered in these cases (details supplied). [10659/01]

Minister for Health and Children (Mr. Martin)

Diethylstilboestrol, DES, was one of the first synthetic non-steroidal oestrogenic compounds that was developed in 1938. One of the uses of these oestrogenic compounds was in pregnancy to prevent miscarriages and premature births, particularly in those pregnancies that were complicated by diabetes or toxaemia.

Medical preparations containing diethylstilbestrol were available in this country during the 1940s, 1950s, 1960s and 1970s. There is no relevant information available on the level of prescribing or use of diethylstilbestrol during these years. In 1972 and again in 1975, the National Drugs Advisory Board reviewed the position and drew attention to the problems associated with the use of oestrogens and with stilboestrol and recommended that high doses of stilboestrol should not be used during pregnancy.

In 1979 the following medicinal products were authorised by the Minister for Health on the recommendation of the National Drugs Advisory Board for purposes other than use in the course of pregnancy: Boestrol tablets, for the treatment of malignancy and atrophic vaginitis, and Tampovagan Stilboestrol and Lactic Acid Pessaries, for the treatment of atrophic vaginitis, senile or post menopausal disorders. This product was discontinued in 1992 for commercial reasons.

Both products were contraindicated in the case of pregnancy, suspected pregnancy, or in patients who may become pregnant. Concern in this country in relation to DES has mainly centred on the lack of awareness among the medical profession as to the benign nature of DES related vaginal adenosis and the danger of unnecessary surgical intervention. The view taken was that the most appropriate way to deal with this matter was to ensure that all the information available was channelled through the medical profession with assistance from the Department of Health and Children as required. A leaflet on DES was prepared in 1991 by the Institute of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists of the Royal College of Physicians of Ireland, in consultation with the Health Promotion Unit of the Department and distributed to the medical profession.

The Council for the Status of Women met with the Minister of State at the Department of Health in 1990 to discuss the matter. Essentially, the council wished to make contact with the daughters of women who took DES during pregnancy in the 1940s. 1950s and 1960s and to alert them to the possibility of their having contracted vaginal adenosis and to advise them of the relevant treatment for this condition. A special unit was set up in the National Maternity Hospital, Holles Street, Dublin 2, in 1990, to assess and deal with the matter. My Department has been advised by the unit that of the 360 women who were seen at the unit, approximately, one-third of the women, 120, are deemed to have been exposed to the drug. The majority of these had been exposed to the drug in the 1960s, with only a few after 1972. The remainder of the women who attended the unit were anxious to have their anxieties that they may have been exposed to the drug allayed.

In 1992, the Minister for Health, on the invitation of DES Action Ireland launched the European DES Awareness Week. From information to hand it appears that appropriate advice was channelled through the relevant medical personnel with a view to ensuring that women affected by DES would receive appropriate and speedy medical care.

I would advise persons who have concerns that they may have been exposed to DES to contact the special unit in the National Maternity Hospital, Holles Street, Dublin 2. There are no proposals in relation to compensation under consideration by my Department.

Question No. 184 answered with Question No. 167.