22/01/2018 London News

Good evening.

I'm Riz Lateef.

BBC London has learned

that there are fears a powerful drug

to treat epilepsy could harm

families for generations.

Sodium Valproate has been used

to treat epilepsy since the 1970s.

But thousands of pregnant women say

they weren't warned of the risks

of severe birth defects,

including brain damage

and spina bifida.

Tarah Welsh has this special report.

You're going to swallow it.

I know, it's horrible.

Bridget is 19, but she is cared

for at home by her mum, Karen.

When pregnant, she was

prescribed a high dosage

of the drug sodium valproate.

She has epilepsy and the pills

were meant to control the seizures,

but the powerful chemicals that

protected her health

damaged her daughter's.

I popped these tablets

into my system, six months

down the line, and turned

round and say to me...

What do you want to do?

You want to have an abortion, you

are carrying a spina-bifida baby.

Like many other women,

Karen had no idea it was linked

to her medication.

Now 20,000 children

in the UK are believed

to have foetal valproate syndrome.

These children have an increased

risk of cleft incleft palate

and they are more prone to spina

bifida, or other defects.

The risk of taking the drug

in pregnancy have been known

since the '70s.

The Government regulates

what information

is given to patients and it

chose not to reveal this.

But in a statement, it told

us that at the time,

according to clinical practise,

it was for the doctor to decide how

much information a patient was given

about their medicine.

Since then, the need for patients

to be fully informed

about their medication has been

underpinned by legislation.

Yet many women say they still aren't

aware of the risks,

particularly alarming in light

of new findings.

While researching this film,

we spoke to several

families who suspect

that

sodium valproate is somehow not just

harming their children,

but their guardian children too.

Until now, those suspicions have not

been deemed credible.

But we have got the results

of a major project in South Korea

which supports the idea

that the drug can harm

successive generations.

The study found autistic-like

behaviour in the grandchildren

and great grandchildren of mice that

were injected with sodium

valproate while pregnant.

That was the first bit

of evidence that we had,

that this could be carried on.

This is something now that needs to

be looked at as quickly as possible

to give families reassurance.

Three generations of one family.

They believe the drug

has affected them all.

Sue was prescribed it decades ago,

her daughters have the syndrome.

Although they didn't take

the drug in pregnancy

they believe their children have

inherited the condition.

I do think my grandkids have

been affected by it.

I have had my worry

with my kids growing up.

I have it again with my grandkids,

how long is it going to go on for?

It is not fair, it is not

fair, it is so wrong.

So many people's lives have been

affected and ruined.

Campaigners want the Government to

pay compensation, and they believe

this new evidence makes their case

for support even stronger.

We are in a good dialogue,

the Minister appears to have taken

this very seriously,

is willing to engage with us,

he appears to be completely

conscious of the need to stop

this scandal continuing.

But it could be too

late for Bridget.

Her health

is deteriorating and she could have

only months left -

after a life of suffering, caused

by something that was supposed

to keep her mother alive.

Jim Wheble has got more on this.

And just to clarify,

this is one study?

That's right, but the authors

of this report believe that showing

that the condition can be passed

on through generations of mice,

it can give us some kind

of clue the same thing

is happening to humans.

lots more research needs to be done,

What can these families expect in

terms of compensation and support?

If we look at different parts of the

world like France, the Government

and supporting families in the legal

action and have set aside millions

of pounds in compensation. Here, it

was slightly different. In 2010,

families took out a legal case

against the drugs company who make

this drug and they had to drop their

case. Faced with the prospect of

having to pay the drug companies

legal bills. They struck a deal and

they signed a letter saying they

would never sing again. As we heard

in the report, there have been

positive conversations between the

Department of Health and campaign is

looking for a public inquiry. What

that will result in, we do not know

yet. One other thing worth

mentioning is that if you are in

this situation, don't just stop

taking your drugs, consult a doctor

before you take any action like

that.

Thanks very much.

The Metropolitan Police has issued

new guidance to its officers

surrounding searching individuals,

suspected of placing

packages in their mouths.

The advice follows the death

of Rashan Charles, who died

after being apprehended by police

in a shop in East London last year.

Fashion is big business,

with London at the centre

of an industry worth around

£28 billion to the UK economy.

But one model has spoken to this

programme about a darker side behind

the beautiful images,

and why she wants better

regulation to protect those

working in the industry -

as Victoria Cook reports.

Dunja Knezevic started

modelling succesfully at 17.

She was excited about the future.

At 19, that all changed.

Dunja was raped by someone

high up in the industry.

Everybody told me

to shut up about it.

All the friends, fellow models,

agencies, they didn't

even want to look at me.

They didn't want to acknowledge

that that had happened.

Told me not to talk about it,

and to just move on, because it

would only be detrimental to me.

It wasn't until later that Dunja

realised she wasn't alone.

Other models were sharing

similar stories.

So, against fierce opposition

from the industry, she started

the first models' trade union.

Everybody kept saying to me -

and especially models -

you should just leave.

Why are you even sticking around?

I said, no, I love the fashion

industry, I love fashion.

So that is why I am sticking around.

Ten years later...

And models are under the union

Equity.

Despite that, it says more needs

to be done to protect workers.

When you are, in that that

environment, models often feel

like their voice is not welcome.

It's the last voice anybody

would want to hear on a shoot.

That has to change.

We want to see a culture where there

aren't bystanders any more.

With recent allegation of sexual

exploitation in the media,

the industry is under a spotlight.

Questions are being asked as to how

safe models are at work.

Some high-profile agencies

in the capital have signed up

to a code of standards.

I think it is difficult for a model

to say no on a shoot.

The model doesn't have to make a big

scene, they tell us,

and if we are not happy

with the situation, we deal with it.

And if that client is trying to get

them to do something without it

having been approved by us,

then they are the ones

in the wrong, abd if they say

they won't want to work with that

model, maybe we won't

work with them.

There are plenty of agencies that

don't take that approach.

The industry is largely unregulated.

Anyone can set up a modelling

agency, so there are

calls for the Government

to step in and introduce stricter

rules to keep models safe.

The Imperial War Museum has teamed

up with the Oscar-winning director

behind the Lord of the Rings trilogy

- to use latest technology

to restore original archive footage

of the First World War.

Grainy and faded images

are enhanced to bring clarity

to the pictures from a century ago.

Each frame will eventually be

coloured - the end product -

a short film to be shown

in London this autumn.

We're making a film that...

that shows this incredible footage,

which the faces of the men

just jump out of you.

just jump out at you.

It's the faces, it's the people that

come to life in this film.

It's the human beings that

were actually there,

that were thrust into this

extraordinary situation, that define

the lives, in many cases.

I'll say goodnight.

And it's over to Stav for a check

on this week's weather.

It is going to be very mild. And it

looks like it will be unsettled with

it. Outbreaks of rain, and very

windy. The middle part of the week.

Towards the end of the week, it

turns cooler again before becoming

milder into the weekend. Tonight is

a very mild night. A lot of dry

weather to begin with, but rain is

waiting out West which moves during

the course of tomorrow morning. It

should ease away. Some of the rain

could be happy for a time. Short

lived. Any brightness will be very

mild. We could see 14 Celsius.

Compared to what we have seen,

recently, that feels quite

different. But the winds will be

strong. They get stronger towards

Wednesday. This area of low pressure

moves through and it will be more

severe across the North and West,

bringing heavy rain and very strong

winds. It starts fine and wild and

windy, and the winds pick up as the

cold front moves through. It could

linger into the evening. 12, 13

degrees, but cooler air waiting

behind it. And that arrives across

our patch during Thursday. Around

nine, 10 degrees. Sunshine in the

morning and showers from the North

West. Friday is dry, with sunshine,

and even cooler with north-westerly

winds. But it is turning milder

again into the weekend. But