Mums v Big Pharma

“Tales of corporate or governmental wrongdoing are often hugely complicated. Documents destroyed, witnesses untraceable, endless obfuscations and legal intricacies invoked. If the people doing the uncovering are ordinary folk, unarmed with fancy lawyers or untrained in the ways of big business or statecraft, the story often becomes even more of a switchback ride before the mind-boggling whole is laid bare. Just occasionally, however, the story is very simple (though no less mind-boggling). Such a case is that of the sodium valproate scandal, uncovered thanks to a campaign that was started 17 years ago by two mothers who began to suspect that their children’s disabilities had a specific cause.”
Lucy Mangan, The Guardian

“A powerful film that stuck rigidly to the facts and, as a consequence, wasn’t able to deliver the triumphant air punch we might have been hoping for when we learnt how the government acknowledged the failings and accepted the findings of Baroness Cumberlege’s damning report in 2020. Scenes from their home lives showed how the children continue to struggle. The families are still waiting for compensation, and the carefully worded official statements at the close showed that the fight is far from over.”
Ben Dowell, The Times

“The documentary is all the more powerful for having [Janet] Williams and [Emma] Murphy as narrators. They take the viewer through the highs and lows of their long fight for justice. If they had been middle-class parents with ready access to lawyers, I suspect they would have been received more politely by the authorities. As it was, they were patronised to the hilt. “Do you understand what that word means?” Murphy was asked during one discussion with the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency. Another MHRA representative, in a recorded phone call, suggested that mums should look on Facebook for medical information.”
Anita Singh, Telegraph

“In a straightforward, start-to-finish timeline, Mums v Big Pharma recounted how families were ignored by the medical establishment. Stylised, silent animations helped to tell the story, but what mattered were the words of the mothers and their children. This wasn’t David against Goliath. It was David against a whole army of Goliaths – the government, the health service, social services, the courts and multi-national businesses.”
Christopher Stevens, Daily Mail