Thalidomide survivor struggles for compensation

Bernadette Brousseausays she has had little tocomplain about inher 51 years.

Though she's had reason to.

She was born with missing bones, deformed limbs and organs that have kept her in an out of hospitaland make it hard to walk.

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Growing up, she never wondered why she was different from the other kids ofthe rural community ofSt. Vincent about 200 km northeast of Edmonton.

And nobody ever told her.

Her parents never talked about why she, the youngest of 14 children, was so different from her siblings.

ButBrousseaubegan to wonderwhen thalidomidesurvivor andmotivationalspeakerAlvinLaw came to speak at her high school.

She realized her symptoms werevery similar to Law's.

Law spoke about how thalidomide was prescribed in the early1960sto expectant mothers to help combat nausea, but instead resulted in babies being born with missing limbs and other problems.

Over the next 10 years she became convinced her deformities were caused bythalidomide and when the Canadian governmentfirst offered compensationto thalidomide survivors in the1990s,Brousseauapplied.

Doctor denied prescribing thalidomide

"I sent the government pictures of myself and they gave me forms to fill out," she said."I went to see the doctor thatdelivered me and he just denied that was the med he had given to my mom."

Because she had no proof from her doctor, she couldn'tfill out those forms.

"I was youngso I didn't fight it."

But when compensation was offered again this spring Brousseauapplied again. This time she needed to. Arthritis hadinvadedher body,making it impossible for the first time in her life to hold a job.

The Canadian governmentannounced yearly payments for those suffering from the effects of thalidomidein amounts of $25,000, $75,000 or$100,000.

But the government demanded proof: a receipt of a settlement from the drug company; medical or pharmacy records showingher motherusedthalidomide; or her nameon a government registry of thalidomide victims.

Brousseaucould satisfy none of thoseconditions. A fire at the St. Vincent community clinic where she was born,destroyedmost of hermedical records.Her mother and father are long dead.

Now, as her day-to-daylife becomes more of a struggle, the uncertainty cutsdeeper.

'I've never asked for anything'

"It's frustrating," she said. "I've always been independent. I've never asked for anything."

Brousseauand dozens of others like her across the countryhave started a Facebookgroup and a petition to demand better from the government.

"Look at me. What more do you need?" she said. "We have no proof other than ourselves as human beings and the struggles we're facing in life."

But with the change of government, everything is on hold, she said.

Health Canada said it'sin the process of hiring athird-party administrator that will look at ongoing and new survivor cases, like Brousseau's. Once that administrator is named, new victims will havesix months to identify themselvesand find out how to apply for financial help.

WhileBrousseauhopes she can get that help she says she also wants recognition.

"Just by looking at us and seeing our deformities and seeing the struggles that we've had throughout our whole life and where we're going now. We aren't getting better. We are getting worse."