Silent Victims: Part One: The Impact of Thalidomide on One Family

by Gary Millar

In 1958 Thalidomide, marketed as a new 'wonder drug,' was first used in the UK promising relief from morning sickness for expectant mothers. It's impact was devastating. leading to countless miscarriages and causing over 10,000 children to be born with a range of severe birth defects. Although it was withdrawn from the market in 1961, Thalidomide's impact upon the lives of tens of thousands of children and their families, who fought for decades for recognition and justice, continues to be felt to this day.

Silent Part One, focuses on the life of Margaret Marjorie Millar - Madge - a mother lost in the fog of the drug's tragic legacy. Told through meticulously transcribed medica case notes and interwoven with deeply personal reflections from Madge's son, Gary Millar, Silent Victims offers a raw yet factual exploration of Thalidomide's impact through the lens of one family, and is a call to reflect on the untold stories of all the silent victims of the Thalidomide Scandal.

297 pages, Kindle Edition

Published March 10, 2025

Reviews

[Ian Pierce-Hayes · Rating 5 out of 5]

An incredible story and it's remarkable that the author who highlights the many challenges his family face; poor housing, poverty, medical arrogance and lack of compassion and documented the devastation within his family following the birth of his youngest brother and yet has managed to prompote kindness and love for all his family despite it all. Beautiful