Doctors said this pill was harmless in the ’70s—now three generations are living with the consequences
- Replies 1
A long-buried chapter of Australia’s medical and social history is being re-examined through a painful new lens.
What was once promoted as a miracle treatment has left a legacy of illness, grief, and unanswered questions for generations of women and their families.
Now, growing voices are demanding accountability for a drug scandal that refuses to stay in the past.
A so-called ‘wonder drug’ once hailed as a medical breakthrough has left behind a devastating and multigenerational trail of suffering, secrecy and anger.
From the 1930s to as recently as the 1980s, diethylstilbestrol—known more commonly as DES—was routinely prescribed to women across the globe, including in Australia.
While marketed as a miracle treatment for a range of conditions, from preventing miscarriage to easing menopause symptoms, DES was also given to unwed mothers to suppress breast milk after they were forced to give up their babies.
These women, many of them teenagers, had little to no say in the matter. They were told it was the right thing to do for their child.
Then, in the fragile aftermath of childbirth and forced adoption, they were handed a pill already known to carry alarming risks overseas.
‘I was told, “you need to do this for this child”,’ said Wendy Pankhurst, who was just 17 when she gave birth in Molong, NSW, in 1970.
She had desperately wanted to keep her baby but was pressured by a local social worker into signing adoption papers.
‘You were made to feel that you were a lesser person—two parents were the ideal. One parent, you were a lesser person.’
Like thousands of other Australian women, Pankhurst was given DES shortly after childbirth. The drug was used to halt lactation, a process which, in the eyes of those in power, would help these mothers move on from their loss more easily.
But DES was no ordinary drug. A synthetic oestrogen, it was so potent that the US Food and Drug Administration had already declared it too carcinogenic for poultry by 1959. Incredibly, despite that warning, the drug remained in circulation in human medicine—including maternity wards in Australia—for decades.
DES wasn’t just prescribed to new mothers. It was handed out as a prenatal vitamin, touted as safe for unborn babies, and pitched as a solution to pregnancy complications. The reality was far more sinister.
Studies in the US later linked the drug to rare cancers, reproductive issues, and other serious health conditions—not only in the women who took it, but in their children.
Caitlin McCarthy, a 48-year-old woman from the US, was one of them.
She said her life changed after her gynaecologist asked: ‘Were you exposed to DES?’
‘I had the telltale sign of DES exposure: a hooded cervix, which some people would call an incompetent cervix. It was devastating.’
McCarthy had watched her mother die of a rare cancer she believes was caused by DES. Her own diagnosis of precancerous cervical cells made her fear that the drug’s reach had extended into her generation—and possibly beyond.
Dr Peter Myers, a scientist studying endocrine disruptors like DES, warned that these drugs could permanently alter the way genes function.
‘They change how genes are turned on and off,’ he said.
‘And if they get turned on or off at the wrong time, bad stuff happens. Sometimes when it's turned on, it turns on forever, for as many generations as we've been able to follow.’
In Australia, that intergenerational impact has become impossible to ignore. Women who were prescribed DES decades ago are now grappling with breast cancer, non-Hodgkin lymphoma and endometriosis.
But even more concerning are the unexplained health issues appearing in their children—and grandchildren.
Joyce Westerman lost one daughter to breast cancer. Her youngest daughter lives with severe endometriosis.
Diane Gregory said two of her daughters were diagnosed with cancer—one with breast cancer, the other with brain cancer. Her grandson battled leukaemia.
Lena Eve reported precancerous cells in her daughter and said her son was unable to have children.
These families believe the common link is DES.
Lily Arthur, founder of the support group Origins, said many of these women live in fear of what the drug may have done to their families.
‘We're in the last chapter and I think we deserve to at least be treated with respect because we have been basically poisoned,’ she said.
Despite the growing number of testimonies, Australia has yet to launch any formal investigation into the drug’s effects—neither on the women who took it nor on their descendants.
‘We need to know exactly what life sentence we've been given when we were given these drugs, because they play out over generations,’ said Arthur.
‘They don't just stop with us.’
Anyone seeking support from Origins can contact Lily Arthur at 0414959239 or 07 5627 0565, or email [email protected].
Many women who gave birth in the ’60s and ’70s were told what to do, not asked. For those who lived through it—or know someone who did—this story may feel all too familiar.
Watch the full report and see how it all unfolded.
Source: Youtube/60 Minutes Australia
With so many Australians impacted by medications they never asked for, how do you think our health system should reckon with past mistakes? Let us know your thoughts in the comments.
In recent years, many older Australians have come to trust long-prescribed medications without ever questioning the risks—until troubling side effects come to light.
If the DES scandal has taught us anything, it’s the importance of staying informed about what we’re putting into our bodies, especially when it comes to medications that claim to improve our quality of life.
A recent warning about a commonly used asthma drug might be another case worth keeping on your radar.
Read more: Experts issue urgent warning about popular medication linked to serious mental health risks – should you be worried?
What was once promoted as a miracle treatment has left a legacy of illness, grief, and unanswered questions for generations of women and their families.
Now, growing voices are demanding accountability for a drug scandal that refuses to stay in the past.
A so-called ‘wonder drug’ once hailed as a medical breakthrough has left behind a devastating and multigenerational trail of suffering, secrecy and anger.
From the 1930s to as recently as the 1980s, diethylstilbestrol—known more commonly as DES—was routinely prescribed to women across the globe, including in Australia.
While marketed as a miracle treatment for a range of conditions, from preventing miscarriage to easing menopause symptoms, DES was also given to unwed mothers to suppress breast milk after they were forced to give up their babies.
Once-promising drug linked to lasting harm. Image source: Youtube/60 Minutes Australia
These women, many of them teenagers, had little to no say in the matter. They were told it was the right thing to do for their child.
Then, in the fragile aftermath of childbirth and forced adoption, they were handed a pill already known to carry alarming risks overseas.
‘I was told, “you need to do this for this child”,’ said Wendy Pankhurst, who was just 17 when she gave birth in Molong, NSW, in 1970.
She had desperately wanted to keep her baby but was pressured by a local social worker into signing adoption papers.
‘You were made to feel that you were a lesser person—two parents were the ideal. One parent, you were a lesser person.’
Like thousands of other Australian women, Pankhurst was given DES shortly after childbirth. The drug was used to halt lactation, a process which, in the eyes of those in power, would help these mothers move on from their loss more easily.
But DES was no ordinary drug. A synthetic oestrogen, it was so potent that the US Food and Drug Administration had already declared it too carcinogenic for poultry by 1959. Incredibly, despite that warning, the drug remained in circulation in human medicine—including maternity wards in Australia—for decades.
DES wasn’t just prescribed to new mothers. It was handed out as a prenatal vitamin, touted as safe for unborn babies, and pitched as a solution to pregnancy complications. The reality was far more sinister.
Studies in the US later linked the drug to rare cancers, reproductive issues, and other serious health conditions—not only in the women who took it, but in their children.
Caitlin McCarthy, a 48-year-old woman from the US, was one of them.
She said her life changed after her gynaecologist asked: ‘Were you exposed to DES?’
‘I had the telltale sign of DES exposure: a hooded cervix, which some people would call an incompetent cervix. It was devastating.’
McCarthy had watched her mother die of a rare cancer she believes was caused by DES. Her own diagnosis of precancerous cervical cells made her fear that the drug’s reach had extended into her generation—and possibly beyond.
Dr Peter Myers, a scientist studying endocrine disruptors like DES, warned that these drugs could permanently alter the way genes function.
‘They change how genes are turned on and off,’ he said.
‘And if they get turned on or off at the wrong time, bad stuff happens. Sometimes when it's turned on, it turns on forever, for as many generations as we've been able to follow.’
In Australia, that intergenerational impact has become impossible to ignore. Women who were prescribed DES decades ago are now grappling with breast cancer, non-Hodgkin lymphoma and endometriosis.
But even more concerning are the unexplained health issues appearing in their children—and grandchildren.
Joyce Westerman lost one daughter to breast cancer. Her youngest daughter lives with severe endometriosis.
Diane Gregory said two of her daughters were diagnosed with cancer—one with breast cancer, the other with brain cancer. Her grandson battled leukaemia.
Lena Eve reported precancerous cells in her daughter and said her son was unable to have children.
These families believe the common link is DES.
Lily Arthur, founder of the support group Origins, said many of these women live in fear of what the drug may have done to their families.
‘We're in the last chapter and I think we deserve to at least be treated with respect because we have been basically poisoned,’ she said.
Despite the growing number of testimonies, Australia has yet to launch any formal investigation into the drug’s effects—neither on the women who took it nor on their descendants.
‘We need to know exactly what life sentence we've been given when we were given these drugs, because they play out over generations,’ said Arthur.
‘They don't just stop with us.’
Anyone seeking support from Origins can contact Lily Arthur at 0414959239 or 07 5627 0565, or email [email protected].
Many women who gave birth in the ’60s and ’70s were told what to do, not asked. For those who lived through it—or know someone who did—this story may feel all too familiar.
Watch the full report and see how it all unfolded.
Source: Youtube/60 Minutes Australia
With so many Australians impacted by medications they never asked for, how do you think our health system should reckon with past mistakes? Let us know your thoughts in the comments.
In recent years, many older Australians have come to trust long-prescribed medications without ever questioning the risks—until troubling side effects come to light.
If the DES scandal has taught us anything, it’s the importance of staying informed about what we’re putting into our bodies, especially when it comes to medications that claim to improve our quality of life.
A recent warning about a commonly used asthma drug might be another case worth keeping on your radar.
Read more: Experts issue urgent warning about popular medication linked to serious mental health risks – should you be worried?
.png){kind=icon}
