Primodos: The first step towards justice (21 July 2020)

Summary

Sharon Hartles is a critical criminologist and member of the Open University’s Harm and Evidence Research Collaborative. In this article, Sharon reflects on the significant impact of the harm caused by Primodos, a widely used hormone pregnancy test prescribed to women in the UK between 1958 and 1970. Primodos is now known to cause miscarriage, stillbirth and birth defects, and this article examines the culture of denial and an absence of state and corporate pharmaceutical accountability that allowed patients to continue to be harmed over decades.