§ Mr. MandelsonTo ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) if she will widen the Government's examination of the incidence of babies born with missing hands in 463W coastal areas to include evidence of similar defects in Germany; and if she will involve the Medical Research Council in this wider inquiry;
(2) when the inquiry announced by the Government into the incidence of babies born with deformed or missing hands in coastal areas will announce its findings; and what further action her Department has taken regarding this issue.
§ Mr. SackvilleI refer the hon. Member to the reply that I gave him on 1 March at column678. In the light of the reports of similar limb defects in the German North sea coastal region, the Department is in contact with the relevant German authorities for further information.