LINK SOUGHT AS BABIES BORN WITH STUNTED ARMS

France has expanded an investigation into babies born with missing or stunted arms to cover the entire country after 11 new cases came to light.

The inquiry will seek to determine the causes of the birth defects, which have alarmed the public despite the relatively small number of known cases.

About 25 have been reported over the past 15 years in rural areas of the Ain department in eastern France, and also in Brittany and Loire-Atlantique in the west.

Some suspect pesticides may be to blame, but the investigation will also examine a possible link with prescription drugs taken by mothers during pregnancy.

The cases have rekindled memories of the thalidomide scandal in the 1950s and 1960s, when thousands of babies around the world were born with malformed limbs linked to the use of the drug, then used to alleviate morning sickness.