TESTIMONY
On April 23, emergency doctor Eric Loupiac died at Lons-le-Saunier hospital in the Jura after contracting the coronavirus. His wife, Claire Loupiac, decided to file a complaint for negligence and endangering the lives of others. Guest of Europe 1, Tuesday, she describes her husband's last departures from the hospital: "What happened is unfair [...] he knew the hospital was not close."
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The Loupiac couple had decided to confine themselves on February 26, the date of the first death of a Frenchman. The weekend of March 7, Eric Loupiac takes his guard at the hospital. He will do a second on March 14 before the first symptoms of Covid-19 appear on March 16.
Lightness of protections available
The testimony of his wife gives the image of a doctor guided by his "duty" but terribly aware of the lightness of the protections made available to him. She describes a hospital in which doctors and people tested positive are equipped with surgical masks, but not asymptomatic people: "They are in the waiting room, mixing with everyone. Inevitably the virus spreads throughout the service of emergencies."
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The hospital management claims that all the necessary equipment was available to the nursing staff. "If he had had the right masks, he would have put them on," retorts his wife, who specifies that Eric Loupiac had contacted his hierarchy several times to inform him of the problem.
"I hope I don't infect you"
Claire Loupiac also describes the anxiety in her husband when he returns home after his work days. "You know that you will have nothing because you stayed at home, but I hope that I will not contaminate you," she said, reporting her words.
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A complaint against the hospital management for negligence and endangering the lives of others should be filed "within a week". Another will follow against the Ministers of Health, Olivier Véran and Agnès Buzyn, guilty according to her of repeated errors, delay in decision-making and "serious lies".
Touched, Claire Loupiac shared her sadness and the feeling of anger that inhabits her: "My life is almost entirely destroyed. It is terrible what I live and what my children live."