France investigates new cases of birth defects
Frances public health investigation into babies born without upper limbs will report first results in January after 11 additional cases came to light, Health Minister Agnès Buzyn told French TV today.
Public Health France said it learned Monday of the suspected new cases. These babies were all born between the years 2000 and 2014 in the department of Ain.
“I think that all of France wants to know” where these malformations came from, Buzyn told BFMTV.
“We do not want to close any tracks. Maybe its an environmental trail; maybe its what they ate, what they drank; maybe its what they breathed. Today, I do not know,” she said.
Results from the first part of the inquiry will come out January 31 and the full investigation completed by June, Buzyn said. “The investigation is just beginning, so were going to go back to see where these women led their pregnancies — if it was in Ain; if it was somewhere else,” she said.
Buzyn announced the government is launching “a very specialized” investigation earlier this month, following heavy criticism of Public Health Frances October 4 decision not to pursue an inquiry.
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