Primodos: Families seek answers over pregnancy test drug

Mrs May commissioned Baroness Cumberlege to review the use of Primodos, along with vaginal mesh and sodium valproate.

That report was published in 2020 – prompting apologies from the UK and Welsh governments – as it concluded that the use of HPTs should have been stopped in 1967 because of the “suggestion of increased risk” by researchers.

It added that further opportunities for action were missed in 1970, 1973 and 1974.

Indeed, the official use or “indication” for Primodos was changed in 1970, meaning it was no longer to be used as a pregnancy test.

However, the company that manufactured the drug, Schering, wrote in October 1977 that, in the previous 12 months, thousands of women had still been prescribed it as a pregnancy test.

Women like Margo, Helen, Barbara, Kathryn and Jean were given two Primodos tablets by their doctors to establish if they were pregnant, during the 1960s and 70s.

Their experiences differ, but their strong belief is that Primodos was at the root of devastating consequences.

Each spoke of the guilt they felt at taking a tablet that was given by their doctor.

Margo Clarke, from Bridgend, was given Primodos in 1970, which confirmed she was expecting her first child, Adrian. But she said from the minute he was born he was a sickly child.

“And the bigger he got, the worse he got,” she said, recalling times when his younger brother would need to get out of the pushchair, to allow six-year-old Adrian to be pushed, as he was too unwell to walk.

“He couldn’t play, he couldn’t run around, or play football, because he would just be very breathless,” she said, adding that his lips would turn blue.

“It was so distressing to see how unwell he was.”