The Thalidomide Trust

The following is an interim description which may change when detailed cataloguing takes place.

This collection comprises minutes and administrative papers of the Thalidomide Trust and predecessors, 1960s-1990s, plus a small amount of material transferred from the personal papers of Dr Richard Smithells (PP/SML). It includes detailed information on named individuals and as a result a high proportion of it is subject to the provisions of the Data Protection Act that apply to sensitive personal information.

1960s-1990s

27 transfer boxes

These papers were deposited by the Thalidomide Trust in four batches: in June 2011, August 2011, February 2012 and May 2014.

The Thalidomide Trust exists to provide assistance to individuals in the United Kingdom with disabilities resulting from the action of the drug thalidomide, which was produced by Distillers Biochemicals Ltd and marketed as a way to relieve morning sickness. It was available in the UK from April 1958 to December 1961 before being withdrawn from the market when it was shown to cause birth defects. A series of financial settlements reached with Distillers and its successors (it was bought by Guinness, which in turn was acquired by Diageo) provided for compensation to people born with birth defects relating to the drug's action: the Thalidomide Trust was set up in 1973 to administer that compensation money and to disburse it in the most effective ways.

The work of the Thalidomide Trust is described on its website at http://www.thalidomidetrust.org/.

Wellcome holds several other archive collections relating to thalidomide:

MS.9127: Ian Millan: papers on thalidomide and the early years of the Thalidomide Society

OH1: Thalidomide: An Oral History

PP/CNE: Dr Claus Newman: thalidomide papers

PP/SML: Professor Richard Worthington Smithells: Archives

SA/TSY: The Thalidomide Society

The Thalidomide Trust has retained all its copyrights in this material.

This collection is currently uncatalogued and cannot be ordered online. Requests to view uncatalogued material are considered on a case by case basis. Please contact collections@wellcomecollection.org for more details.