Paris (AFP)

The National Council of the Order of Physicians lodged a complaint in early December against six doctors, including professors Didier Raoult and Christian Perronne, after comments deemed controversial on the Covid-19 epidemic, he said Monday evening.

Contacted by AFP, the Council of the Order (Cnom) confirmed this information, revealed by the medical news agency APMNews, without further details.

The body examined in early December a series of complaints or reports targeting doctors, for facts or statements made publicly about the coronavirus pandemic.

She decided to seize the disciplinary chambers of first instance of complaints, or to join a complaint in progress with regard to six doctors, details the specialized agency.

Among the doctors targeted are Prof. Didier Raoult, from the Mediterranean University Hospital Institute (IHU), controversial advocate of hydroxychloroquine, and infectious disease specialist Christian Perronne.

Didier Raoult is at the heart of a controversy for having crushed the management of the crisis by the authorities and conflicts of interest in international research on the treatment of Covid-19.

His words had pushed the departmental council of the Order of Physicians of Bouches-du-Rhône to seize the disciplinary jurisdiction, and the Cnom chose to join it.

Professor Raoult immediately reacted to this announcement by filing a complaint in turn against the president of the Cnom, Patrick Bouet, for "harassment", announced during the day his lawyer Me Fabrice Di Vizio.

"This new procedure brings absolutely nothing, unless the Cnom does not trust the Departmental Order (...) where it is an intimidation to hinder the freedom of expression of a university ", wrote the lawyer in a press release specifying that he had filed his complaint on Tuesday at the Paris prosecutor's office.

Concerning Professor Perronne, the Assistance publique - Hôpitaux de Paris (AP-HP) announced Thursday that it had terminated its functions, for having notably affirmed that the patients of the Covid represented a financial boon for doctors and also for controversial remarks around hydroxychloroquine.

The doctor was until now head of the infectious and tropical diseases department at the Raymond-Poincaré hospital in Garches (Hauts-de-Seine).

The CNOM's complaints also target Prof. Henri Joyeux, retired oncologist, Dr Nicole Delépine, former pediatric oncologist in Garches, Dr Nicolas Zeller, general practitioner, and Dr Rezeau-Frantz, also general practitioner.

© 2020 AFP