Babies born without arms: a family files a complaint against X

The family of a little boy born in Ain in 2012 with upper limb transverse agenesis (AMTS) filed a complaint against X on August 9 for endangering the lives of others, reveals France Info this Monday, August 19. The complaint, filed at the public health center of the Marseille court, took place “in respect of the presumption of innocence, without seeking to name the culprits before the time”, assures lawyer Fabien Rajon. “We want an investigation as close to the ground as possible to find the causes,” he explains to France Info. This is the first complaint in the so-called “armless babies” case.

In July, a committee of experts from the National Public Health Agency and the National Food and Environmental Health Safety Agency (ANSES) made the first findings from national baby survey born without arms, forearms or hands between 2009 and 2014 in Ain, Loire-Atlantique and Morbihan. To the great disappointment of the families, the experts announced that it was very unlikely to be able to find the causes of these tragedies.

Although they suggested continuing the investigations in Morbihan, in particular on the pesticides used in the region during the mothers’ pregnancies, they did not succeed in deciding for Loire-Atlantique, given the lack of a register on the deformities. As for Ain, they recommended stopping the investigation for lack of “excess cases”.

The impartiality of the agencies called into question

However, according to the couple who has just lodged a complaint, the specialists have omitted five cases of babies born without forearms before 2011. Their lawyer therefore questions the impartiality of the agencies. He therefore calls for further investigations carried out by a “specialized and independent” magistrate.

Seven malformations have been counted in Ain in recent years. According to Fabien Rajon, they could be linked to “poor water quality, or even groundwater pollution, hypotheses linked to the water distribution network. It was noted that most of the families affected were located in end of the water supply network”. “All of these questions were not addressed in the investigations conducted by Public Health France and Anses,” he said.

A case revealed in October 2018 after a report by France 2

The complaint was filed with the Marseille public prosecutor’s office, whose tribunal de grande instance has one of the two public health centers in France, with that of Paris.. “We consider that it is their role to investigate a file which is complex in health and environmental matters”, explains the lawyer.

The case of babies born without arms was revealed in October 2018 after a report by France 2. In the latter, we discover that several babies have ATMS in different regions of France. Doctors do not know the cause of these malformations, but it is clear that all mothers live in rural areas. Last January, three new cases of malformation were identified in the Bouches-du-Rhône. These are three girls born between June and November 2016.