An $89m compensation payment for people left with birth defects after their mothers took thalidomide has been approved.
More than 100 Australian and New Zealand victims will be compensated in the landmark settlement after the Victorian supreme court signed off on the settlement on Friday.
Lawyer Peter Gordon, acting for the victims, told the court the settlement was a fair and compassionate resolution.
He said there were no objectors and no objections.
“No one has submitted any complaint,“ Gordon said.
The $89m will be paid by the drug’s distributor, Diageo, with thalidomide’s manufacturer Grunenthal not included in the agreement.
The settlement ends a long compensation battle by the thalidomide victims, many of whom were born with missing or shortened limbs.
Thalidomide, a drug to counter morning sickness, was withdrawn from sale in 1961.
The drug was distributed in Australia and New Zealand around 1960 and 1961 by Distillers, which became part of Diageo in 1997.
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