No Apology From Food and Drug Administration

Floor Speech

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Mr. McGOVERN. Mr. Speaker, diethylstilbestrol, or DES, is a drug that was prescribed to pregnant women between 1940 and 1971 to prevent miscarriage.

As early as 1953, there was evidence it didn't work. Nevertheless, it was prescribed for decades because the FDA waited years to alert doctors that something was wrong.

Since then, we have learned DES is an endocrine disrupter that leads to rare cancers and birth defects across generations of families, including among men and women who call themselves DES sons and daughters and who are leading the charge for more awareness and a formal apology.

One of my constituents, a DES daughter herself, Caitlin McCarthy, has been a leader in this effort. She is joined today with Dr. Gwendolyn Mink, Karen Fernandes and Andrea Gardner, also leaders in this effort.

Despite years of false starts and half apologies, the FDA has still not actually said sorry for failing to warn the public in time.

Mr. Speaker, these people deserve that formal apology. Until then, Congress ought to pass my resolution, H. Res. 342, which establishes DES Awareness Week and urges the FDA to fund a follow-up study and issue an apology. An apology will not undo the damage, but it will set us on the path to making things right.

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