Exposed to Distilbène in utero, Stéphanie Chevallier won her appeal against UCB Pharma. Without producing a prescription.
Stéphanie Chevallier’s fight lasted. For 10 years, this woman exposed in utero with Distilbene is suing the laboratory which manufactures this drug. She suffers from a serious malformation of the genital tract, causing infertility. This October 15, the president of the association Girls DES finally won the case: the Versailles Court of Appeal (Yvelines) recognized UCB Pharma’s wrongs. He will have to pay 126,000 euros in damages to the complainant.
An unusual case
Stéphanie Chevallier discovered her uterine malformation at the age of 19, relates France Inter. When she was pregnant, the girl’s mother received Distilbene. This synthetic hormone was intended to reduce the risk of miscarriage. But it is also the cause of serious malformations of the genital tract and an increased risk of cancer. In 1977, the drug was withdrawn from the market. But it is too late for the more than 100,000 children who bear the scars of this prescription.
After several attempts at fertilization in vitro (IVF), Stéphanie Chevallier resolves to her infertility. She then sued UCB Pharma, which was slow to make these serious side effects public. It is the beginning of 10 years of legal proceedings, between victories and appeals. Because this file presents a peculiarity: the complainant does not have the prescriptions to prove that the distilbene was indeed prescribed to her mother. In addition, its malformation is not typical of exposure to the drug. Her uterus is not Y or T shaped.
A compensation fund
On October 15, however, the Versailles Court of Appeal established a link between the synthetic hormone and Stéphanie Chevallier’s infertility. “This decision may be the door open to all women who do not have documents to prove their exposure to DES but whose pathology has no other cause and even if they have no characteristic abnormalities” , welcomes his lawyer, Maître Martine Verdier, interviewed by theAFP.
The files are numerous: between 1948 and 1977, Distilbene was widely prescribed. More than 200,000 women have received it. However, a study has shown that the drug causes side effects over two generations. Children exposed in utero are more at risk of certain cancers (breast, vagina, etc.). When they are not sterile, their own offspring is at risk for malformations of the genital tract and other organs, including the esophagus. This augurs well for many lawsuits in the future.
The president of the association Girls DES undoubtedly understood it. She is now fighting to obtain the creation of a compensation fund for all potential victims of Distilbene.
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