Government pledges action on DES pregnancy drug legacy following campaign

The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) has promised urgent action to support women affected by the now-banned pregnancy drug diethylstilbestrol (DES), following the launch of a new campaign by MPs and victims.

Health secretary Wes Streeting said he was ‘genuinely sorry’ for the harm caused by DES and committed to improving awareness, screening and NHS guidance for women exposed to the drug, according to the details of a letter published on the website of Bournemouth West MP Jessica Toale, who launched the DES Justice Campaign in November.

DES was prescribed to pregnant women in the UK from the 1940s until the late 1970s, with concerns raised as early as the 1950s.

The drug was intended to prevent miscarriage and suppress breast milk production, but has since been linked to serious health complications, including an increased risk of breast cancer in women who took it, and rare cancers and infertility in daughters exposed in utero.

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According to the letter to his Labour colleague, Mr Streeting acknowledged that the healthcare system had failed to adequately inform or protect people from the known risks.

‘My department, and the wider health system, must now lead the way in supporting those impacted by these historic events,’ he wrote. ‘That starts with making healthcare professionals aware of the risks associated with prior exposure to DES.’

Mr Streeting said he had instructed NHS England to work with local cancer alliances to ensure that providers are aware of existing screening guidance for individuals exposed to the drug.

Current guidance allows for follow-up arrangements, such as annual colposcopy outside the routine screening programme, for women who show signs or symptoms linked to DES exposure.

Ms Toale’s campaigning on the issue followed a meeting with her Bournemouth constituent, Jan Hall, earlier this year. Hall lost her mother, Rita, to breast cancer in her 30s and has experienced decades of health complications linked to DES.

‘To receive a letter from the Secretary of State with an apology within hours of launching our campaign is a powerful acknowledgment of the trauma these women have endured,’ said Clare Fletcher, partner at law firm Broudie Jackson Canter, which represents DES Justice UK.'

‘It is a strong start to the campaign. But it is only the start,’ she added.

The group is now calling for a full statutory public inquiry, alongside targeted screening and support. Ms Fletcher said the number of members in the group has grown to over 500 following media coverage of the campaign.

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Ms Hall described the ministerial response as ‘a huge step forward’ and said she had previously considered giving up campaigning. ‘Thank heavens women's health is now being taken seriously,’ she said.

Ms Toale called DES ‘potentially the biggest pharmaceutical scandal in British history’ and said: ‘These women deserve honesty, accountability, and proper support and I'm really pleased that is what they are starting to get today under this Labour government.’

In its own statement to The Pharmacist, the DHSC said: ‘There are harrowing accounts of harm caused by the historic use of Diethylstilboestrol (DES), with some women still suffering from the associated risks of this medication which have been passed down a generation, and not feeling adequately listened to or supported.

‘The Secretary of State has been clear he has been looking seriously at this legacy issue and carefully considering what more the government can do to better support women and their families who have been impacted.’

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The DHSC said it was working with NHS England to ensure GPs are aware of follow-up guidance and added that wider reforms in women's healthcare were under way through the Women's Health Strategy.

However, it warned that robust tracing of all DES-exposed individuals would be difficult due to the lack of electronic records at the time the drug was prescribed.

DES is still prescribed in the UK in limited cases, including for certain cancers such as metastatic post-menopausal breast cancer and prostate cancer, but its use during pregnancy is prohibited.