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The prosecutor of Reims announced Thursday, July 11 the opening of an investigation to determine the causes of the death of Vincent Lambert, occurred this morning almost ten days after the cessation of care.
The prosecutor of Reims Matthieu Bourrette announced to have opened an investigation in "search for the causes of death" Vincent Lambert, died this Thursday morning after being in a vegetative state for almost eleven years. The magistrate says he took this decision in view of " the very particular context of this death after years of judicial recourse and open conflict that has existed for several years between family members ".
► See also: The major dates of the Vincent Lambert affair
It is " a procedural framework that allows investigations to be launched when a person dies in particular or suspicious circumstances without any prior suspicion of the existence of a criminal offense ", he specified during a press conference.
Autopsy request
The investigation, entrusted to the regional service of the judicial police of Reims, will have to determine the exact causes of death. For this, an autopsy of Vincent Lambert's body was requested by the prosecutor. It will be carried out at the forensic institute of Paris this Friday morning, and not at that of Reims which depends on the hospital center already targeted by several complaints. " This autopsy will be carried out by two expert forensic doctors, particularly experienced in this area to avoid, again, any debate on the quality of the acts practiced, " continued the prosecutor.
Toxicological analyzes will also be carried out to verify which products have been used in Vincent Lambert's support process. On July 2, Dr. Vincent Sanchez, the head of the palliative care service at the University Hospital of Reims, had begun a new treatment stop , effective the next day. The protocol provided, in addition to stopping hydration and feeding by probe, a "deep and continuous sedation". " This investigation is only to know the circumstances of the death of Vincent Lambert and to verify that the medical operations were performed in accordance with the law " Claeys-Leonetti, promulgated in 2016, governing the end of life, repeated the prosecutor .
"A State Crime"
The body of this 42-year-old quadriplegic and vegetative man for almost eleven years will be returned to his wife, who was also his tutor, after the autopsy. The results of the investigation, however, should not be known for several weeks or months, warned the magistrate.
After the announcement of his death, Vincent Lambert's parents' lawyers had denounced a " state crime " and accused his doctor of "giving up his Hippocratic Oath ." Statements that his wife's lawyer described as " unworthy ". " A legal framework has been strictly enforced, " she said. At the investigation opened this Thursday to determine it.
(With AFP)
►Also read: The patient in vegetative state Vincent Lambert dies after stopping his care