Thalidomide Survivors Compensation Act of 2025

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress] [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office] [H.R. 5865 Introduced in House (IH)] <DOC> 119th CONGRESS 1st Session H. R. 5865 To establish the Thalidomide Survivors Compensation Program, and for other purposes. _______________________________________________________________________ IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES October 28, 2025 Mr. Van Drew introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary, and in addition to the Committees on Ways and Means, Energy and Commerce, Natural Resources, Agriculture, Education and Workforce, Financial Services, Transportation and Infrastructure, and Veterans' Affairs, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned _______________________________________________________________________ A BILL To establish the Thalidomide Survivors Compensation Program, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. This Act may be cited as the ``Thalidomide Survivors Compensation Act of 2025''. SEC. 2. FINDINGS; PURPOSE. (a) Findings.--The Congress finds the following: (1) Thalidomide caused an estimated more than 10,000 birth defects and deaths worldwide during the 1950s and 1960s. (2) Thalidomide exposure in utero is known to cause limb deformities and internal organ malformations. (3) Although not formally approved in the United States, approximately 5 million thalidomide samples were distributed by over 1,200 physicians through informal clinical trials. (4) The number of U.S. individuals affected remains undocumented, but research estimates approximately 100 thalidomide survivors are still living in the United States. (5) U.S. thalidomide survivors have faced decades of unreimbursed medical costs, limited accessibility accommodations, and lack of form