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Theresa Hills

English 3

Period 2

5 December, 2018

The Rise of Birth Defects in France

The case of the rising number of babies being born with birth defects is finally coming to

light. What is the health problems involved with the birth defects of these babies? Numerous

cases are being reported of kids having disabilities. Schools in areas are popping up with more

reports, the birth defects affect children in the near future. Now let's get into why is this issue

just coming out when there was a few reports before hand, and is the government really doing

everything in their power to actually help these people? We all know that government’s around

the world have been known in some way, shape, or form to do pretty shady things, especially

for covering up. So what really is behind the cause that experts are pointing at that might be the

cause of the problem? It all comes down to that France’s National Health Agency needs to put

more funding into finding a solution to the now growing issue of babies being born with birth

defects and to not keep pushing the issue aside.

The experts have come to a probable solution that pesticides and agricultural may be to

blame. Paul Anthony Taylor explores the reasoning behind the probable cause of birth defects,

suggesting that agricultural and the use of pesticides might be a big part to blame there is

studies to back that up the claim, like some of calves being born with “missing tails” including

“ribs”. Taylor spoke to a student named Samuel Banard about many children like him around

the Ain region having the same issue. Taylor goes on further saying “Banard and the other

parents are part of a cluster of around two dozen families in two rural agricultural areas in

France several hundred miles apart” (Taylor). Agriculture has something to do with the spike in
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the rise of birth defects because most of the cases seem to be happening to places around

agricultural areas. According to ABC News, “The reports have raised alarm among the french

public that some kind of toxin in food, water or air could be responsible.” This epidemic of

limbless babies are having experts and the general public giving their opinions.

The epidemic had many of experts as well as the general public having many viewpoints

on the subject. An increasing number of experts as well as people are influenced into believing

that agricultural industries and the use of pesticides in food is causing the increase in birth

defects as well as pointing out that government is trying to cover it up from the public. According

to LABline, who got to talk to France’s Health and Solidarity Minister Agne’s Bryan on more

about the factor in figuring out this health problem. Bryan goes on to say, “It could be what they

ate or what they drank. We don’t know, but the numbers are 60 percent higher in these areas

than they should be.” ​Parents in the Ain region have two dozen families that live in agricultural

based areas that believe that pesticides remain the culprit. More experts believe that the

government is also partially to blame as how these birth defects became an epidemic in France.

Fingers are pointing to France’s Government, some believe that they are not doing

enough to help it’s people. Kim Willsher got a quote from Emmanuelle Amar suggesting that the

government is just pushing aside the Remera Health Register. Amar made a statement saying,

“At the time we raised the alarm we were dragged through the mud, told by health authorities

our concerns were unfounded, the only people to support us were the scientists and the media.”

From what I see the government does not want to give into funding and supporting the health

register because they just want to protect their images, so they wanted to do so called “bury the

health scandal” and as a result of them doing so 11 more cases were released to the public

while they sat behind their image and watched it all unfold in front of their very eyes. As well that

if the government would have done something sooner and funded the research effort, that the
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experts would have found a solution sooner thus the case would not have gone as far as an

epidemic. Willsher talked to Salomon about how many people abide by under the health

registry. Willsher stated, “Salomon admitted that just under 20% of France is covered by the

registers dealing congenital malformations in infants.” The experts and the public are in an

outrage and believed that more could have been done to prevent the spread.

There is an infamous number of viewpoints to the government’s cover up and hiding the

information from the public. Willsher talks to Emmanuelle Amar more into thinking that the

government does not care enough about the issue to actually do anything about it. Amar states,

“The officials, bureaucrats, just wanted to protect themselves. They tried to kill off the register

and suffocate the story. It's incomprehensible but its evidence of a kind of arrogance in our

institutions.” As a result of the government not doing anything, “a public body which conducts

research on cases of malformation, says the number of babies affected in one particular region,

the Ain department, is 58 times higher than the French national average for such cases”

(Taylor). The scientists, without the government's help, are struggling to find an hypothesis to

the growing epidemic. So far they are looking into pesticides and if they are truly affecting

women during pregnancy. They are going to give a report hopefully by January. But there are

some people who persist to believe that it's not the government's fault and that they are actually

trying to help the research effort.

There is some oppositions viewpoints about the controversy about the government

“covering up”. ABC News is explaining that there could be possibly many explanations to what

is happening and that it could not necessarily be the all the government's fault. “Birth defects

have multiple causes, including chromosomal disorders, drug use or exposure to toxic

substances”(ABC News). ABC News is also relating problems from years ago to problems now.

“In the late 1950s and early 1960s, about 10,000 babies worldwide were born with malformed or
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missing limbs after their mothers received the drug thalidomide to treat morning sickness.” (ABC

News). Arab News investigates further into the probable cause stating that experts get help from

the government and doing more research saying, “While the cause of the defects are unknown,

research has shown that exposure of the mother to certain chemicals or medication during the

pregnancy can increase the risk.” Labline is explaining what France’s National Health Agency is

doing to try to help its people, France has put out a health investigation trying to find out what

the solution to this epidemic, all the experts are coming up with is the pile of cases is increasing.

Some of the different rebuttals saying how not enough research is being done and how

it’s affecting the community due to little significant funding. Paul Anthony Taylor talking to

Samuel Bernard explaining the amount of children with defects. According to Taylor, “Bernard

says he was shocked to discover that his son wasn’t so unique after all. He was one of four

children in a class of 16 with similar birth defects affecting their hand and arms.” Arab News

points out the number of babies with limb problems, saying that “Fewer than 150 babies are

born each year in France with upper limb defects, arm, fails to completely during pregnancy.”

There is no place of region in France where they can pin where its coming from. The only time

where they can count more cases is when children show up at schools. More and more children

are showing up with limbless arms, like in “Bernard’s son and his limbless peers.” But they are

around mostly Agricultural areas. Banard described some of the kids in his class, “One child

was missing fingers, another the entire arm up to the elbow, a third was missing a hand”

(Taylor).

It's time to put more money into research for these birth defects to come up with a

possible solution. We don’t to repeat history and have “10,000 babies worldwide were born with

malformed or missing limbs” (ABC News). We don’t want the deformed babies to rise like the

two dozen families in the Ain region, and have the numbers multiply. The bottom line is the
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French government needs to start caring more about the people, because that’s their job to put

their best mind forward for the best interests of the people.
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Works Cited

Abc News. “France opens probe on babies born without hands or arms.” ​Abc News,​ 31
Oct. 2018,

www.abc.net.au/news/2018-11-01/french-babies-born-with-no-hands-arms-probe-
launched/10453596.

Arab News. "France investigates spike in babies born with arm defects." ​Arab News,​ 22
Oct. 2018, ​www.arabnews.com/node/1391681/world​.

Kim Willsher. "French whistleblower welcomes U-turn on study into babies with missing
limbs." ​The Guardian​, 18 Nov. 2018,
​www.theguardian.com/world/2018/nov/18/french-whistleblower-welcomes-
committee-studying-babies-with-missing-limbs​.

LABline. "France’s crisis epidemic of limbless babies." ​MEDICAL LABORATORY

OBSERVER​, 18 Nov. 2018,
www.mlo-online.com/france%E2%80%99s-crisis-epidemic-of-limbless-babies​.

Paul Anthony Taylor. "Unexplained Birth Defects In France Raise Suspicions Of

Pesticide Industry Cover-up." ​Dr. Rath Health Foundation​, Paul Anthony Taylor, 13 Oct.
2018,
www.dr-rath-foundation.org/2018/10/unexplained-birth-defects-in-france-raise-
suspicions-of-pesticide-industry-cover-up/​.
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