The founder of the SNF chemistry group, in Andrézieux-Bouthéon (Loire), was placed in police custody on Monday then released, suspected of offering chloroquine to the employees of his company who may be suffering from Covid-19, it was said. learned from judicial and union sources. René Pich, 79, also deputy managing director of SNF, was heard by the gendarmes of the Montbrison research brigade, in the context of an investigation for "illegal practice of pharmacy and medicine", opened by the parquet of Saint-Etienne.
"The investigation was opened following a report made on March 31 by the Loire labor inspectorate," said the prosecutor of the Republic of Saint-Etienne, David Charmatz. It follows a note from René Pich, dated March 18, informing SNF management that the company had acquired chloroquine phosphate tablets. The document, of which AFP obtained a copy, invites executives to make a request "to the management for the delivery of the product" in case of symptoms of Covid-19 in an employee. The dosage to be followed is even indicated there.
“We learned about this in China at the end of January and we understood that this product was the solution. Today, Trump in the USA, passing over all medical procedures, has advocated this product for all serious cases. This product is now successfully used in China, South Korea and Thailand, ”writes the manager. The use of chloroquine is the subject of lively debate in France.
Complaint for "endangering the life of others"
Searches, carried out Monday at the home of René Pich and at SNF aimed to find all these lots of chloroquine phosphate, imported from India, according to the same source. During a free hearing on Friday, the manager had voluntarily handed over to the gendarmes five boxes of products, ie a few hundred tablets. "These are products not validated by the health authorities and whose import is prohibited," said prosecutor Charmatz.
Other senior executives of the group were interviewed by the investigators, whose task is to identify all the participants in this operation and to find out if SNF employees would have consumed it for medical treatment. A complaint from the CFDT chemistry union was filed Friday with the Saint-Etienne prosecution for "endangering the lives of others, illegal practice of medicine and pharmacy and administration of poisonous substances".
Become the world leader in polyacrylamides used in water treatment, SNF, created in 1978 in Saint-Etienne, achieved a turnover of 3.4 billion euros last year. It employs 6,000 people, including 1,350 on the Andrézieux-Bouthéon site.
- Coronavirus
- Society
- Drug