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BABIES

France: Common drug caused birth defects in 450 babies

A common drug used to treat epilepsy has caused congenital defects in around 450 babies in France who were exposed to the medication before birth in the uterus, according to an estimate by health authorities published on Tuesday.

France: Common drug caused birth defects in 450 babies
Photo: AFP

The report put at between 425 and 450 “the number of cases of children born alive or stillborn exposed to valproate in utero between 2006 and 2014 who have congenital defects.”

The estimate for all of France was extrapolated from data obtained in the Rhone-Alpes region, it said.

Starting on March 1st, the warning for pregnant women – which is already in the notice that comes with valproate – will also be written on the box, the country's general director of health, Benoit Vallet, told AFP.

The anti-convulsion drug has been flagged for several years due to the high risk of birth defects – around ten percent – but also for increased risks of mental retardation and autism.

A European report in 2014 urged all countries on the continent to review their conditions for prescribing valproate “to minimise risks”.

It also called on them to take steps to ensure the medication is not prescribed to women of child-bearing age – 15 to 49 years – or pregnant women, unless no alternative treatment for epilepsy was effective.

In France, the new report noted, the drug has also been prescribed for the treatment of bipolar disorder.

Valproate has been marketed in France by pharmaceutical company Sanofi under the brand name Depakine since 1967.

Also available as a generic, the drug is sold by Sanofi in some 120 countries, the manufacturer said.

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NAMES

Adolf, Alexa, Greta: These are the names Germans don’t want to give their kids

History, technology and current political trends all seem to have an influence when German parents decide on names for their children, a new survey shows.

Adolf, Alexa, Greta: These are the names Germans don’t want to give their kids
File photo: dpa | Fabian Strauch

Perhaps unsurprisingly, Adolf is the least popular name for Germans to give their children. 

While Adolphus was a relatively popular name in the first part of the 20th century, its association primarily with Adolf Hitler has since made it taboo.

A survey brought out by YouGov on Thursday shows that 89 percent of Germans say it is “unlikely” they would call their child Adolf, although 8 percent still say it is “likely” they would do so.

READ ALSO: What it’s like to share a name with the world’s most notorious dictator

Alexa, the name of Amazon’s virtual assistant, is also rather unpopular, with 79 percent of respondents saying they would probably not pick this as a name for their child.

Kevin, a name strongly associated with the fashion of giving children American names during the communist era in East German, is also now unpopular. Some 80 percent say they wouldn’t give their child this name.

According to a survey done in 2011, men called Kevin also have less luck in finding love online, presumably because of the negative associations of the once popular name.

For girls, Greta seems to be unpopular, with three quarters of respondents saying they wouldn’t use it as a name for their child. YouGov says that “perhaps people have the polarizing climate activist Greta Thunberg in the backs of their minds.”

Asked what they believed has the most impact on how names are chosen, the respondents said that family and ethnic background have an overwhelmingly positive influence.

Politics and current trends on the other hand were seen to have a generally negative impact on the favourability of names.

The survey also found out that Germans are generally very happy with their given names, with 84 percent voicing satisfaction and just 13 percent expressing dissatisfaction.

The results come from a representative study of 2,058 people in Germany between February 12th and February 15th.

SEE ALSO: These are Germany’s most popular baby names for 2020

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