Harald Stock chose his words carefully. He apologized for not reaching out to survivors earlier, but he didn’t say anything that could be interpreted as an admission of guilt. Thalidomide survivors did not accept Grünenthal’s apology as sincere and were angered by Stock’s words.

“He apologized for being silent fifty years, that the company Grünenthal didn’t talk to us. But they didn’t apologize for what they did to us.”
~  Monika Eisenberg

Listen to Monika

“They apologized for some bullshit that they didn’t reach out to us or some fuck, yeah? They never apologized for the suffering they caused. And they didn’t pay for that, you know, for their wrong. There was no apology. Apology comes from the heart, yeah? Their apology came from their lawyers.”
~  Niko von Glasow

 Watch Niko’s reaction

“Our family couldn’t have gone into silent shock. We had to get up and face each day and every day and cope with the incredible damage that Grünenthal drug did…to Lyn and our family.”
~  Mrs. Wendy Rowe

 Watch Wendy Rowe’s reaction