HEALTH MINISTER ORDERS INQUIRY INTO BABIES BORN WITH LIMB DEFECTS

PARIS France’s health minister has ordered a fresh investigation into why 14 babies in rural areas were born missing limbs in recent years, saying it was “unacceptable” that previous investigations had not solved the mystery.

The announcement came two weeks after an inquiry by health authorities ended, with doctors saying they had failed to find out what had caused the babies to be born with stunted or missing arms since 2007.

“We cannot simply say that we didn’t find any causes, that is unacceptable,” Agnes Buzyn, the health minister, told RTL radio.

Pesticides used by farmers were the most likely causes for the abnormalities, according to doctors at research organization Remera.