IRISH parents are preparing to join a legal action in Britain against the makers of an epilepsy drug that caused children to be born with autism, deformities and behavioural problems.

The case could rival the thalidomide actions of the 1980s, with up to 37,000 families in Britain being affected.

The action is against Sanofi-Aventis, one of the largest pharmaceutical companies in the world, which manufactures Epilim, a brand name for sodium valproate. It is an anti-convulsant medicine that prevents epileptic seizures, but has been found to cause foetal defects.

Some 140 families were listed on the claim before adverts were placed in the British press last week by a representative group organising the action. The Organisation for Anti-Convulsant Syndrome (OACS) says it has received at least 200 calls in the past two days.

Janet Williams, who runs the group, says most families have more than one affected child. “Of the 350 families who have been in touch, the majority have two or three children affected, so already we’re dealing with over 1,000 children,” she said.

The drug has been prescribed to epilepsy sufferers in Ireland since the early 1980s. One of a number of Irish mothers who joined the proceedings last week was Paula Gusman, a mother-of-two from Mayo. She has been taking Epilim for more than 20 years, but was not aware of the risks.

“I have a daughter who has autism and a boy with behavioural problems,” said Gusman. “I was taking Epilim before and throughout both pregnancies. The only side-effects I was made aware of was the possibility of cleft palate. There was certainly no mention of behavioural problems and autism.”

Both of Gusman’s children were born healthy and, as in the case of many of what Williams calls “Epilim babies”, only diagnosed when they reached school age.

David Body, a lawyer with Irwin Mitchell, a British firm, says it is bringing two cases against the manufacturer. The first, in October, will challenge a 10-year time limit for bringing compensation cases. The second, the compensation case, has a trial date for 2008.

In a statement Sanofi-Aventis said: “At all relevant times, the product information supplied to doctors by Sanofi-Synthelabo in relation to sodium valproate provided warnings in respect of possible effects in children born to mothers who take the product during pregnancy.”

This information was approved by the regulatory authorities as consistent with current scientific knowledge.”

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