LONDON, Dec. 20 (UPI) -- The British government said it will give $32.3 million to a trust intended to help those individuals whose lives were impacted by thalidomide.
Sky News online said Sunday the Department of Trust funds will be dispersed during three-year period to the Thalidomide Trust with the intent of 463 surviving thalidomide victims in the United Kingdom.
Thalidomide was prescribed to pregnant women in the United Kingdom during the 1960s and '70s. The drug, intended to curb morning sickness and insomnia, caused children to be born with limb deformities and other conditions.
Sales of thalidomide ended in 1961 following the discovery of the drug's connection to the infants' afflictions.
Sky News online said Distillers Biochemicals, which distributed thalidomide in the United Kingdom, paid nearly $45.2 million in compensation to thalidomide victims in the 1970s. The payment came after a legal battle with several victims' families.
