Historia del caso de la talidomida. Dies a quo del plazo de prescripción de la acción de resonsabilidad civilprescripción y amparo constitucional

Résumé

By means of an order dated July 22,2016 the Constitutional Court dismissed the constitutional appeal for protection of rights lodged by the Association ofVictims ofThalidomide in Spain. This is composed of people born with malformations as a result of the intake of thalidomide by their mothers during the first rnonths of gestation more than fifty years ago. In the first instance, the Association ofVictims ofThalidomide in Spain had obtained a conviction against Grünenthal Pharma, the distributor in Spain of the German company that synthesized and patented the active substance of thalidomide. However, both the Provincial Court of Madrid and the Supreme Court considered the statute of limitation had lapsed in respect of the permanent damages for which compensation was sought. According to the Constirutional Court, there has been no violation of the right to judicial protection, for there has been a dismissal of the merits of the appeal and not a denial of access to justice