Paris (AFP)
The compensation mechanism for victims of the antiepileptic drug Depakine, criticized in particular for its slowness, will be reformed to bring the procedure back to "reasonable time", announce the health authorities.
Out of nearly 2,000 claims filed, only 31 cases have been successfully completed through this amicable compensation fund, created in 2017.
"The device does not work.It is urgent, given the number of victims, it accelerates," Judge Marine Martin, mother of two children affected, who denounced the scandal related to the prescription of Dépakine pregnant women then that his dangers to the fetus were known.
Sodium valproate, marketed by Sanofi under the name Depakine (antiepileptic) and Depakote (treatment of bipolar disorders), has been responsible since 1967 for malformations in 2,150 to 4,100 children, and neurodevelopmental disorders in 16,600 to 30,400 children, according to the Health Insurance and the Medicines Agency (ANSM).
The compensation system, headed by the National Office for Compensation of Medical Accidents (Oniam), "required a delay of implementation because of the complexity of the subject," said AFP the Ministry of Health.
Despite the progress made in the examination of the files, "this delay (...) is difficult for the victims to understand and it is now imperative to speed up the compensation procedure and improve it for the benefit of the victims", acknowledges the same source.
- "Scientific data" -
According to Marine Martin, who chairs the Apesac Victims Association, the government will table an amendment to the 2020 finance bill, which was debated in the National Assembly, in early November, to merge the two bodies responsible for examining the victims. requests.
This possibility is "seriously studied", according to the ministry.
At the moment, the files go first to a panel of experts, composed of doctors and lawyers charged to establish if the troubles of the victim are due to the catch of Dépakine by her mother during the pregnancy.
If the answer is positive, a compensation committee then identifies the officials (the Sanofi laboratory, the State and / or the prescribing doctor) and assesses the seriousness of the damage sustained.
The members unanimously adopted a resolution favorable to such a merger in June.
In addition to the slowness of the process, Marine Martin denounces the decisions of the committee of experts which, according to her, "refuses to take into account certain scientific data" to determine from when the dangers of Depakine during pregnancy were known.
She also mentions, as in her personal case, autism diagnoses made by specialized centers recognized by administrative courts but "challenged" by experts.
- "Discount Compensation" -
"I do not despair that with the new body we will have people more willing to respect the work done by specialists" of the toxicity of the valproate for the fetus, she declares, in a letter to the members of the Apesac .
The association is also critical of the proposed "discount rebates".
Oniam announced last week that it made offers in 31 cases, for a total of 6.5 million euros. The agency had previously made public the two highest bids, awarded to heavily affected victims: 1.3 million euros in May and 2 million in September.
But, according to Marine Martin, the other proposals are much lower, especially for the "indirect victims" (parents and siblings), and do not correspond to the reality of needs to take care of children with disabilities on a daily basis.
She mentions an offer of 4,500 euros for a woman who has completed a medical termination of pregnancy at six months of pregnancy, the fetus suffering from a serious neurological malformation.
"Many families (...) call us to express their dissatisfaction," she says.
Apesac finally calls Sanofi to assume its responsibility by contributing to compensation, which the pharmaceutical group refuses.
Oniam then intervenes in substitution to formulate an offer to the victims, and will then turn against the laboratory. But civil procedures can last "up to ten years," says Marine Martin, saying that "we can not leave that to the charge of taxpayers."
© 2019 AFP