Parents Of Children Born Without Eyes Seek Answers -Nov. 7 /98 National Post John Lehmann http://www.nationalpost.com/ According to this story, seven children in southwestern Ontario were born in the last three years with no eyes, an extremely rare birth defect. Specialists say the number of cases is unprecedented in Canada. They believe there may be environmental factors linked to many of the children. The story says that three of the mothers were on an apple orchard during their pregnancy. The story says that the parents believe exposure to pesticides when during pregnancy could be responsible. The experts are undecided. At least three of the mothers were exposed to apple orchards, where fungicides are regularly sprayed, during the first three months of their pregnancy when the baby's eyes develop. Dozens of families in Britain and America, whose children were born with microphthalmia (small eyes) and anopthalmia (no eyes), are suing DuPont, the American-based chemical giant. They blame exposure during pregnancy to the chemicals benomyl and carbendazim, which are found in Benlate, a common DuPont garden spray. The court claims follow a landmark decision two years ago, when a Florida court ordered DuPont to pay $4-million (US) in damages to Johnny Castillo, now six, who was born without eyes as a result of his mother's exposure to Benlate during pregnancy. Benomyl is the active ingredient in 11 fungicides sold in Canada, including various forms of Benlate. The seven Ontario children were born with bilateral anopthalmia, meaning they are missing two eyes, the most severe form of the condition. Some have been fitted with artificial eyes, though they will never be able to see. The story depicts several of the personal cases, and states that in the U.S. court case against DuPont, which the company is appealing, a six-member jury heard expert testimony that inhaling microscopic amounts of the compounds found in Benlate during the fourth to ninth week of pregnancy can have "devastating results in foetuses," according to laboratory research. DuPont, which denies its products cause health problems, has settled out of court in U.S. cases involving alleged damage to crops sprayed with Benlate. In 1993, it was ordered to pay $115 million (US) for allegedly committing fraud by concealing evidence about the product. Benlate DF, a granular formula of the fungicide at the centre of the Castillo and crop cases, has been voluntarily taken off the market by the company. Dr. Shi Wa Wen, a senior epidemiologist at Health Canada, and Brian Lowry, professor emeritus in medical genetics at the University of Calgary, investigated the Ontario cases which are in Rodney, Kitchener, Stratford, Southampton, Ajax, and Toronto. One parent was quoted as saying, "They interviewed us and said they would take soil samples but they never did. They never got back to us. I felt it was kind of like they were sweeping it under the carpet." The Health Canada epidemiologist was quoted as saying he found "no apparent cluster ... It seems just a spontaneous event so we could not draw any conclusions." The National Post requested a copy of his research findings at the end of August; no one from the government has responded. Prof. Lowry, who ran Alberta Health's birth defects registry, was quoted as saying, "I accept there does seem to be a cluster. Yes, it is an unusual series of events but I think it is too early to draw conclusions. They were all sporadic cases; sporadic does not rule it out being environmental nor does it rule out genetic causes. I assumed the government was monitoring this." _________________________________________ Mother Agonizes Over Why Baby Born Without Eyes MD struggles to solve mystery after cluster of cases surfaces By David Dauphinee London Free Press http://www.canoe.ca/LondonFreePress/home.html Rodney,Ont.- Kristi Lewinsky looks at her 19-month-old daughter Laurisa every day and sees a terrible mystery. Laurisa was born without eyes and no one can explain why. From the day Lewinsky left the hospital with her baby and met with London ophthalmologist Dr. Larry Allen, she has been searching for answers. Was it something in the family background? Was it environmental, such as exposure to a chemical or drug during pregnancy? Or was it just a freak accident? Laurisa is one of at least seven babies born without eyes in the last three years in southern Ontario and there is no apparent cause. The other six babies are in Stratford, Southhampton, Ajax, Kitchener and two in Toronto. "All I know is there are seven babies without eyes. Something's going on, something needs to be done about it," says Lewinsky, who lives in Rodney, near London, Ont. Allen has seen the phenomenon known as anopthalmia(no eyes) and microphthalmia(small eyes) sporadically over the years. But the recent incidents are unusual as they occurred over a short period of time and all within southern Ontario. Allen is treating all the children through the London Health Sciences Centre. "When I've talked to people across the country,I hardly ever have anybody run into this problem at all," he said. "We see more of that problem in this area than we do throughout Canada." Some parents wonder if the defects are linked to medication. Another suspicion is that exposure to pesticides caused the problem. Benomyl, a DuPont-made ingredient in several fungicides in Canada, has already been shown in animal studies to induce the birth defect, but at doses 1,000 times higher than the expected dose received by farm workers handling the pesticide, the British Medical Journal has reported. Still, Lewinsky said a common thread among the mothers is that they all lived near apple orchards or in rural areas where there may have been chemical use during their pregnancies. Support groups say anopthalmia may result from genetic mutations, sporadic genetic mutations, chromosome abnormalities, environmental reasons or other unknown causes. Some sources estimate the defect appears in about one in 10,000 births. For Lewinsky, there are so many unanswered questions. "It is kind of scary. I will have another child. This won't stop me but what should I do? It should be a happy time, but when it happens to you, you think about it the next time." |
