In the 1980s the Dalkon Shield intrauterine device (IUD) caused infections and in some cases sterility among New Zealand women. Many sought compensation. This cartoon, published in the feminist magazine Broadsheet in 1986, questions the motives of the manufacturers of the Dalkon Shield in paying compensation to affected women. Listen to a radio news report about the compensation settlement.
Transcript
Thousands of Australian women who suffered injuries as a result of using the Dalkon Shield contraceptive device have voted to accept the manufacturer's plan for financial compensation. Reporter Sian Phillips says that under the plan, A.H. Robins will set aside nearly three billion dollars to settle all compensation claims.
The plan was drawn up in an American bankruptcy court after the company received some 100,000 claims worldwide for injuries ranging from pelvic infection to sterility. The claimants had until July the 11th to consider the plan and the court is just announced that 95% have voted to accept.
Using this item
Reference: 2737
Cartoon: Broadsheet, March 1986, p. 15, Dame Margaret Sparrow Collection, by Helen Courtney
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