Grünenthal paid 100 million marks into a foundation for thalidomide victims, and a 1971 law wiped out their claims against the company

The Wirtz family founded Chemie Grünenthal in Stolberg in 1946. On 1 October 1957 it began selling the sedative Contergan, thalidomide, without prescription. In late November 1961, after a newspaper linked it to deformed babies, the company withdrew it. About 12,000 children were damaged in the womb worldwide; about 2,400 people affected are alive in Germany. On 13 March 1967 prosecutors in Aachen indicted owners and employees. The trial of nine managers began on 27 May 1968. On 10 April 1970 Grünenthal agreed to pay 100 million Deutsche Mark into a fund for the children. On 18 December 1970, after 283 hearing days, the court ended the trial for minor guilt. A federal law of 17 December 1971 created a foundation. Its section 23 extinguished all claims of the victims against Chemie Grünenthal GmbH. On 8 July 1976 the Federal Constitutional Court upheld the law, ruling that statutory benefits could replace the claims. Grünenthal refused further payments from 1997 to 2008. In 2008 it announced a voluntary €50 million payment. In August 2012 it issued its first apology. The company is still owned by the Wirtz family.