France: the river trial of the Mediator health scandal ends on Monday

The Mediator has been used by more than 5 million people and caused the death of more than a thousand people since it was put on the market in 1976. REUTERS / Charles Platiau

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Last day of oral argument and last day of trial at the Paris courthouse this Monday. It is the end of a river audience started last September, that of the Mediator of the Servier laboratories. This drug was originally against diabetes and diverted as an appetite suppressant, it has been used by more than 5 million people and has caused the death of more than a thousand people since its marketing in 1976.

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He is the only one who faces a prison sentence, the only defendant in this case: Jean-Philippe Seta, the former number 2 of Servier laboratories, is at the forefront in this trial following the death of Jacques Servier in 2014 He faces 5 years in prison and a 200,000 euro fine. Did he know how dangerous the Mediator is? The man denied it, even if he knew about the customary deviations.

Same explanations from the Servier laboratories, prosecuted as a legal person. They are accused of having maintained the marketing of the Mediator with full knowledge of its toxicity. The prosecution requested a fine of 10 million euros against them for aggravated deception. This sum disappointed the 4,600 civil parties, they demanded compensation of 100,000 euros on average for each of them.

If the court goes in their direction, it will therefore be 460 million euros that Servier laboratories will have to pay them, to which should be added another 450 million euros requested by the health insurance funds that reimbursed the Mediator during all these years.

In total, the Servier laboratories could therefore have to pay more than a billion euros. The court decision will be released in 2021.

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